Year of Change
by Justanotherwannabeaurthor
Summary: When he moved here, it was just to get away and finish his last year of school just like any other normal student. What he, or everyone else didn't know, was that this year would change not only him, but many others as well. AU
1. Chapter 1 Part 1

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Disclaimer: Naruto, and its cast, does not belong to me. The story on the other hand, does. Should you chose to take it and claim it as your own work, I will find you and tickle you to death.

* * *

Chapter One, Part 1: New Neighbor

It was a quiet day in those last few days of freedom in the summer before school started. The air was pleasantly warm and their was the fain hum of insects at they flew around the apartment complex. In her room, she could hear the faint 'thump' sound of a foot hitting a soccer ball. Sakura didn't need to look up from her desk to know that Naruto was out in the apartment park getting himself all hot and sweaty while kicking around a black and white ball. No, instead, she chose to finish reading one of the books that was going to be on her Honors English class; Pride and Predigest.

Down the hall, she could hear the sounds of the television along with the familiar sounds of her mother cleaning. Sighing, Sakura closed her book and pushed herself away from the desk. She left her clean and neat room into the spotless hallway that lead into the spotless living that was joined with the spotless kitchen. Deep down, Sakura wish her mother found a hobby to take her away from cleaning so she didn't always smell like cleaning solution. Currently, her mother was cleaning the windows with her own homemade solution and newspaper.

"Looks like we have some new neighbors." Sakura's mother said while looking out the window. "They must be moving into the empty apartment above us. Hopefully they'll be quieter then our last neighbors." She said softly while walking over to the kitchen area and started putting the dishes away.

Curiously, Sakura walked over to the window to see the said neighbors. The moving van was small, one that was made to move furniture from a two room apartment to another. Because of the tint of the van windows and the angle from where she was watching, Sakura couldn't get a good look at who was inside. She could tell that there were three people all squished together in the front area made for two before the van turned in the parking lot so the back of the truck was facing the stairs as they backed up. The lights went on and then off before the vehicle turned off and the doors to the truck opened.

She wasn't able to see the person who climbed out of the driver's side. The edge of the car door was the only thing visible as it opened and then closed. The first person she saw was a blond woman who had her hair up in not two, but four bushy pig tails; two on top of her head and two at the bottom. Her cloths were simple, a pair of aged jeans and a black shirt with a set of sneakers. Sakura was surprised as she realized that the women couldn't be too much older then herself. She must have been in her second year of college, maybe third at most. The woman was somewhat pale, and saying something to the driver on the other side of the van. The blond moved away from her side of the car as someone else got out while she was listening to the unseen person… and that was the first time Sakura saw him.

It was his hair that she noticed first. It was red, not auburn or even that somewhat purple red color, but actually red, like blood. The thought sent a shiver down her back and she silently chided herself for being so silly. It stood out even more against his skin, which was fairly tanned. Although that was nothing compared to what he was wearing. His jeans were a dark gray color, while his t-shirt was black; under it was some type of fishnet shirt, where the sleeves of it went down to his forearms. While Sakura was on the seventh floor, she could also see that he had a few stud earrings. It looked like three on the lower part, but she wasn't sure. He also had one of those punk wallets with the chains that attached to one of the belt loops.

He was looking around and taking in his new surroundings with mild interest. He stared up at her apartment complex, his eyes looking from one window to another. When his eyes fell on her apartment window, Sakura felt a small jolt as his gaze met hers. There was a lot of make up around his eyes, giving him an almost raccoon look. And he was still looking right at her. Not at the window, or anything else... but her. Not sure what to do, Sakura raised her hand up in a little wave. He blinked and returned the gesture before the blond woman said something to him and he turned away. Sakura took the opportunity to duck away from the window.

Making her way back to her room and busied herself by double checking the contents of her backpack. Tomorrow would be the first day of her last year of school, and she was looking forward to it. It was suppose to be one of the easiest years of high school, but she was taking some advance classes for collage credits. She was hoping to go into one of the local universities so she wouldn't be too far from home, but her mother was pushing her to aim higher.

Heavy foot steps followed by two lighter ones sounded on the stairs outside; the new family making their way up to their apartment above hers. Two people were talking as they made their way up, but she couldn't make out what they were saying, but the tone of it sounded friendly and happy.

"I wonder what grade he's in…" Sakura said to herself, opening her algebra book and flipping through it. Her thoughts had gone back to her new red haired neighbor. He looked about her age, although there was something in his eyes that made him seem a little older. The wood panels above her creaked, heavy footsteps followed softer ones making their way to the room above hers. They were talking again, but she could almost make out what they were saying. Almost not believing what she was doing, Sakura put her text book down and stood on top of her bedroom desk so she could place her ear closer to vent at the top of her room. This was something that her mother normally did, not her.

"What do you think?" A deep male voice said. "Not too bad for what we are paying for."

"It's nice." Said a softer voice. Almost too soft, Sakura almost missed what was said. Right away She knew that it was his voice. The other must belong to the person that she had not been able to see. More foot steps and then a third voice, female, joined in.

"We'll have to order dinner tonight. I don't think we will be able to get everything up here, and drive back to pick up the care before the grocery store closes."

"Shouldn't be a problem. What do you think about Gaara having this room? You and I can share the master bedroom like when we were kids."

"It'll work. Let's hurry up and get the boxes up here. The sooner, the better." The female voice said. Then there were the sounds of them leaving and more as they went down the stairs. Pulling her head away from the vent, she carefully climbed off her desk. She stood in the middle of her room for a moment before going into the kitchen.

0o0o0o0o0o0

A few hours later, and ten trips up and down the stairs too many, they were done. All three of them were tired, with arms that felt like rubber and legs that protected when one of them decided to go from sitting to standing. The sofa had been the worse part of it all. Kankuro and Gaara ended up having to take the whole thing apart and bring it up piece by piece up the stairs. They had just finished putting the beds together in all the two bedrooms and were currently sitting on the rebuilt sofa and staring at the wall where the TV would be… once they found the box it was in. Temari had already left to take the moving van back to the shop so they could get their car back, but they would have to wait for her to return before they could order any food, since she took all they money they had with her.

"What do you think? Pizza or Chinese?" Kankuro asked while getting up and looking for the box that was marked "Mis Crap". Opening it, he dug around and pulled out a phone and tossed it to Gaara who set himself to the task of finding the phone line in the wall. Kankuro went into the kitchen, opening and closing all the pantries till he finally found the local phone book.

Before He could even open the book, there was a shy knock on the front door. Kankuro and Gaara looked at each other for a moment before Gaara, the one who wouldn't have had to do some amazing acrobatic feat around and over boxes to get to the door, moved to answer it. He opened it and was surprised to see the pink haired girl standing there, although you wouldn't have been able to tell from his face, his normal emotionless mask. She was still wearing denim skirt that went down to her knees and white sandals. She was holding a large bowl of something, but he could not see or smell it because of the container it was in. One top of it were some paper bowls and three plastic forks.

"Umm.." Sakura normally didn't have any trouble talking to people normally… but under his unblinking gaze, she felt suddenly shy. "Hi. I live in the apartment under you. My name is Sakura… My mom and I noticed that you guys moving in today and we thought… you might like something to eat… since you wouldn't have any food or anything unpacked yet…" Gaara stared her for a moment, his eyes moving about her face, taking in her hair style, eyes and body position while she talked. "So… here." She said weakly offering the food.

"Thank you." Gaara said, taking the large warm container, being careful to balance it so the bowls and forks wouldn't fall off. She gave him a little smile, twiddled her fingers at him and turned to go back down the stairs. Gaara closed the door with his hip and looked back at his brother.

"We have food." Gaara said simply, holding the bowl up a little higher.

Gaara and Kankuro took the time to make a little makeshift table and had just finished setting it up when Temari came back.

"What's this?" She asked in surprise while setting her purse down on the sofa.

"The folks down stairs made us some food." Kankuro said while placing said item on the cardboard box table. He opened it to reveal a pasta dish, the smell of it instantly filling the room. All their stomachs growled loudly. Kankuro and Temari laughed while Gaara gave a small smile. All of them sitting down, they scoped some food in their bowls and talked about nothing.

0o0o0o0o0o0

She was sitting with her family in the living room, watching TV, when knocked happened. Her mother got up to answer it Sakura would hear her mother talking to another female voice. It took her a moment to recognize the other voice was the one that she had heard through the vent, but she wasn't able to make out the words very well till…

"Oh, my Sakura goes there as well. The bus stops around the corner a little ways from the stop sign at seven." There was more murmuring and then the door closed. "What a nice girl…" Her mother said while taking the clean and dried container back into the kitchen and placing it in its spot in one of the cabinets. "Looks like the younger one is going to be going to the same school as you Sakura. Be a good girl and show him around tomorrow."

Sakura wasn't sure if she liked this idea or not. Interesting he had been… from a distance. But… being so close to him had scared her a little. It was his eyes… they were very intense looking. As if he would have eaten her alive. She still felt extremely embarrassed about when she gone up to give them the food she'd made. Only to stumble all over herself. If Naruto found out, he would tease her about it for sure.

Once the TV program was finished, Sakura took her shower and checked her bag one last time before going to bed. As she laid there, she could hear his soft foot steps in the room above hers. There were the soft thumps as, what she thought must be boxes, were placed on the ground.

'He must be unpacking…' she thought as she closed her eyes. She fell asleep quickly and peacefully.

0o0o0o0o0o0

Naruto yawned as he stood by the bus stop. He was till eating his morning meal of instant cup of noodle when Sakura walked over to him. He was wearing his trade mark orange shirt with his black jacket. His single strap backpack rested by his feet.

"How do eat that every day?" She asked, giving the cup a dirty look. It was a question she asked on the first day of school ever since she and Naruto had been standing at the bus stop together for the last five years. She hadn't liked him at first because he was very loud and not really bright at times, but he was a good person and she had been given the opportunity to know him better the rest of the kids at school.

Naruto slurped up some noodles before answering him. "It's easy… add hot water and while it cooks I walk to the bus stop, and while I wait for the bus I eat them." He tipped the cup up and drank the remaining broth before tossing the empty foam cup into a nearby trashcan. He grinned and turned to say something else to her, but stopped to tilt his head and look at something behind her. Turning to look as well, she saw Gaara walking over to them.

He was wearing almost the same thing as yesterday, not the pants were black and shirt was Grey. Over one shoulder was a tanned postman bag. He was munching on a bagel and stood next to them, although still a little ways off. Naruto, who was normally out going and friendly also stopped short from introducing himself to this new addition to the bus stop wait team. The three of them stood in silence till the bus finally came to take them away. Naruto and Sakura said in their normal spot in the middle of the bus and waited before the bus started to move before talking.

"Was it me or did it get colder when he came over?" Naruto asked while taking a peek over his shoulder to get another look at Gaara who was sitting in the back of the bus.

"It was just you." Sakura said, poking him in the ribs. "Are you going to try and join the soccor team again?" She asked, in the effort to change the subject.

"Naw, I need to start studying actually. The college I want to go to requires I take an entrance exam, so I'll be studying a lot this year."

"Sounds intense." Sakura said, knowing that no such thing would happen. It was the same thing he said every year. And just like before, she knew that he would be begging her at some point to either copy her notes or help him with his homework.

"It will be, but it'll be worth it if I can join. Iruku would be so proud if I made it." He gave Sakura his victory grin. "What about you? What college are you thinking about going to?"

"I don't know. My parents and I are still talking about it. I'll have to make my mind up in a few months…"

And so on the conversation went till they arrived at school. Once they disembarked, they waved goodbye to each other before looking for the group of friends to sit with in the large gym for the annual "Welcome back to school, here are the new rules" speech from the principal.

By lunch time, she couldn't believe it. He had been there… in everyone of her classes. She was glad that all they were doing today was reading the school manual, because she kept looking over at Gaara. He was there for her College Algebra class, her History of Literature class and her Honors Government Class. They even had the same lunch period… she was also willing to bet that they would have the last three classes together as well with the way that this day was turning out. She was paying for her food when someone bumped lightly into her.

"Can do you do me a favor?" Naruto said, paying for his own food.

"It depends on what it is." She picked up her tray and stepped a few feet away so the next person could pay.

"I want to go and apologize for eyeballing that guy this morning. Will you go with me? I won't feel like such a moron if I am with someone else." Naruto said, pointing his tray over to a table in one corner of the cafeteria. Gaara sat with his own food and was eating quietly by himself.

"You just like seeing people eat alone." She said simply. Which was true. While Naruto had his own group of friends, lunch time was the one time he wouldn't hang out with them.

Always wanting to sit at the table with those that were considered "outcast" by the school. This, along with a few other things, was one of the reasons Sakura like Naruto.  
They made their way over to his table and sat down. Gaara looked up at them.

"You don't mind if we sit here, do you?" Naruto asked, a little nervous. Gaara shook his head and Naruto went on. "I'm sorry about this morning, I didn't mean to be rude or anything."

"I don't mind." Gaara said simply. He quietly chewed his sandwich, taking small bits.

"What other classes do you have for the day?" Sakura asked. "I noticed you and I have the same classes in the morning."

Gaara dug in his pockets and pulled out his class schedule and handed it to her. Taking the bit of paper, she looked it over. Sure enough… they were in the same classes for the rest of the day as well. Handing the bit of paper back at him, she thought for a moment. The only reason she had been able to take so many advance classes was because she had to take a placement test for all of them, to prove that should take them. He would have had to have done the same. It was school policy… there was no way he could do it without the placement test.

By now, Naruto was doing his introduction bit and trying to get to know Gaara a little bit. She wasn't paying too much attention though. She was thinking to herself while she ate.  
The rest of the day was uneventful. More school manual reading, and one teacher has asked that they write a letter to themselves to give to themselves at the end of the year, which most of the class had moaned about. She signed her name up for the martial arts club before getting on the bus. She sat alone on the way home since Naruto had a part time job he did after school. Gaara was on the bus as well, but when he saw him, he was reading the assigned book that was handed out in the History of Literature class. When they finally arrived at their stop, she waited for him to get off and walked with him.

"You were very quiet at lunch." He said as they started walking.

She looked over at him. "I was just thinking." She readjusted her backpack strap. He seemed to think the answer was acceptable, and didn't say anything else.

There was more silence as reached the building and climbed the stairs. He was about to climb his extra set of stairs and he looked over at her. "Thank you for dinner last night. It was really good."

"Oh… you're welcome."

"See you tomorrow."

"Yeah… night."

She unlocked her door and went inside. No one was home yet, as expected. She went to kitchen to get a glass of water before going to her bedroom and sitting at her desk. She drank a little bit of water and looked out the window for a moment. Sighing, she placed her bag on the ground and took out a few sheets of notebook paper and started to do her first assignment of the year.

"Dear Self,  
I am sure as you are reading this, you forgot that you even wrote this letter, just like you did last year. I am not sure how much has changed since I sat down to write this. Even as I write this, I am not sure what to write…"

She paused for a moment and simply looked down at the paper. Sakura tapped her pencil on the parchment as she struggled to figure out what to right. Sighing, she went on.

"Things can't be worse then last year, or at least I think so now. Hopefully when you finally read this you will have a diploma in hand and ready to go to college. Course, I don't see how I couldn't right now.

Take Care.

Yourself."

0o0o0o0o0

He was also alone when he opened the door to his apartment. Although it was evident that A lot of unpacking had been done. The kitchen was set up. There was a note on the table from his sister. Leftovers in the fridge, would be home around ten. He heated up his food and went to his room, which was still halfway to being fully unpacked. There were four boxes in one corner that were labeled "art supplies" in a sloppy handwriting. He opened the top one and pulled out a spiral notebook and his thin tin box of sketch pencils.

Placing them on the neatly made bed, he quickly eat his dinner. The pasta dish had been good, and it was even better now that the seasoning that had gone into it were able to set in overnight. When he finished, he picked up the supplies. Opening the notebook he turned the pages till he found the blank section. Reaching over, he opened the tin and pulled out one of his pencils and started to sketch.

* * *

End of Chapter One, Part 1: New Neighbor


	2. Chapter 1 Part 2

Disclaimer: Naruto does not belong to me. The story on the other hand, does. If you take it claim it as your own work, I will find you and tickle you to death. You've been warned.

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Chapter 1, Part 2: Settling In.

Gaara knew that this moment would come. He hadn't really been putting it off… just not looking forward to it. He never liked coming to places like this and having his brain examined. A week into school and he had to go. He knew he had to go… he just didn't like having to get to know a whole new therapist.

This waiting room was like the others that he had sat in the past. The lighting here was kinder though. Mood lighting his brother had called it. He liked it. It was better then the nice looking facilities with the bright florescent lighting that made you feel like you were being interrogated. Like there was no where to hide and that you were exposed. With this lighting he felt safer… more relaxed…

A man with white messy hair that stuck out to one side walked into the room holding a clip board. Gaara was a little surprise my his appearance. Despite his white hair, he was actually very young looking, tall and lean. His most striking feature, other then his hair, was one of his eyes. The one on the right was closed with a scar starting above the eyebrow and ended mid-cheek.

The man looked over the clip board with his good eye before looking up at the room. "Mr. Sabaku?" He wasn't able to move his mount the word very well, so it came out sounding like 'Sab-koo.'

"I'll wait for you down here." His brother said, getting comfortable in his chair and giving him the thumbs up. Gaara nodded at him before getting up and walking over to the white haired man. The latter held out his hand to Gaara.

"My Name is Dr. Hatake. I'll be your therapist."

Gaara stared at his hand for a moment before taking it and giving a small shake. Dr. Hatake smiled at him and lead up out of the room and up the stairs by the waiting room.  
"You were going to have a different therapist, but because of the nature of your case, you'll be with me." He opened the door to his office and waited for Gaara to go inside first. "I hope that doesn't bother you."

"You're the first male therapist I've had." Gaara said while looking around the room. The white haired man pointed to the chair that he was supposed to sit in. Looking around, the room was very… round…

"Manager's idea. He thinks that straight lines and corners should be avoided." Dr. Hatake said, noticing his inspection of the room. "He also thinks that we should personalize our offices, but isn't very found of my way." By that, he was indicating the wide poster above his desk that said "I am not bound to please thee with my answers."

"Shakespeare…" Gaara said softly after reading it and taking his seat.

"Good eye. Are you a fan?" The therapist said taking his own seat and picking up a large yellow pad of paper. He set it on his lap and pulled the pen out of his shirt pocket.  
"My sister is. A "Court of Justice" is her favorite. I haven't read anything else of his besides 'Macbeth' and 'Romo and Juilet.'"

"I'm not a fan either; I just like this particular quote of his." He readjusted himself in his seat before moving onto business. "I already looked at your file, so I don't think we need to busy ourselves too much about why you are here, unless you want too." He looked at Gaara, who didn't say anything, and went on. "So we'll just move forward then. So, Let's get started… How are you feeling?"

Gaara hated that question.

"Ok… I suppose."

"'Suppose?'" The white haired man rested his elbow on the armrest.

"It's new here. I kind of like it. I don't have to deal with the looks and whispers. At the same time though… I am still…" Gaara stopped, not sure what word he should be using.

"Lonely?"

"A little I suppose."

"You're in your last year of high school. It'll be lonely since you don't know anyone. Have you met anyone yet?"

"Kind of… People here are different."

"How so?" He took his pen and started to write on his pad of paper.

"Well… Friendlier I suppose. The people down stairs gave us some food the day we moved in. And then there was another kid at the bus stop who apologized to me for giving me some funning looks at the bus stop that morning. After that… he eat with me at lunch…"

"Do you still talk to him?"

"No… I eat outside now… on the school roof."

Dr. Hatake raised an eyebrow. "Why is that?"

"I'm not use to it… I still see him in the morning, but… he unnerves me. He's kind of hard to ignore. I notice that he kind of makes it a point to come and find me and talk to me for a while… I saw him jump from some stairs to ask me how my day was once."

"Sounds charming."

"It's annoying."

The other man chuckled. "It sounds like he wants to be you're friend."

"There are hundred of other kids at the school he can be friends with." Gaara said simply.

"There are some traits," The doctor popped the knuckles one hand and then the other, "in people that we look for without knowing it. It might be possible that the harder you try not to be his friend, the harder he'll try to do just that."

"So… you're saying I should…"

"What I am saying," The doctor cut in, "is that it would be better for you to have some kind of social interaction with someone besides your family. You can't avoid people forever, and it would be best for you to try and learn how to deal with them now, rather then later. Besides," He leaned back in his chair. "You can always tell him to fuck off if he bother's you that much. But… It's a safe bet to say that you haven't done so yet though, right?"

"…no."

"Then it wouldn't hurt to give is try."

"… I suppose..."

"You might even like it. Anyone else bothering you?"

"Not really. There is this one girl that I have class with… I stand with her at the bus stop as well."

"Is she cute?"

Gaara was caught off guard by the question so much that he blinked hard at the man. He opened and closed his mouth twice before finally saying, "Does it matter?"

"I was just curious." He grinned at Gaara

"I suppose she is… pleasant looking."

Hatake jotted something down, "So how does she 'bother' you?"

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

"I think he'll warm up to us!" Naruto said the next morning after slurping down his morning cup of ramen.

"I don't know…" Sakura said, readjusting the strap on her backpack. "You can't teach a dog new tricks."

"He's a person, Sakura, not a dog."

"You know what I meant." She retorted, poking him in the ribs. She turned to look over her shoulder to see him rounding the corner. She had spent the last week trying to figure out what was so interesting about him, but hadn't been able to come up with anything… or maybe the list was just too long…

He was munching on his morning bagel, blue berry by the looks of it, and she noticed that he was frowning. When he finally made it over to them, he stared at them hard. Since both of them where used to him standing a ways off and doing his own thing, this was new… very new….

"Good morning."

There was a slight pause before Naruto piped in.

"Morning! How was your weekend?"

"Quiet."

He turned to stand next to them while they waited for the bus. He finished eating his food while looking at the watch on his arm. Sakura turned to look at Naruto who mouthed "I told you so", resulting in her poking him again.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

"So," Ino asked as she caught up with Sakura in the hallway. "Who are you taking?"

"Hun?"

"The Home Coming. Who are you taking?"

"Oh…" They reached her locker and Sakura fiddled with the lock while she thought. "I don't know… I was thinking I might just stay home that night."

"Don't be such a prune!" Ino leaned on the locker next to hers and looked at her closely. "You're not thinking of asking Sasuke, are you?"

"No, I learned my lesson last time. Besides, I would need an army of barbarians to get though the swarm of girls around him." She said in good humor.  
"Well, don't put it off too long. You know how hard it is to get a date when the clock is ticking."

"You and I can always go together if it comes down to it." Sakura said, pulling out the book she needed.

"I would, but I already have a date."

Sakura blinked and stared at her friend. "Who?"

The warning bell for next period went off. "I'll tell ya later." Ino said before she rushed off for the stairs. Sakura quickly made her way down the hall for her own class, jumping in her seat just in time. Still panting slightly, she set her text and note book on the desk.

It didn't matter how hard she tried to pay attention though. Her mind kept drifting off.

'Home Coming… I hadn't even thought about. I only went last time because Ino dragged me with her. I don't even know who I would ask… I could ask Naruto…' As soon as that thought popped in her head, she dismissed it. 'He's nice, but he's more like my brother… and I won't ask Sasuke again…'

Something popped red in the corner of her eye and she turned her head. Gaara was sitting by the window, taking notes while looking up at the white board.  
"What do you think, Ms Haruno?" The teacher's voice was suddenly in front of her. She tensed and looked to see that he was indeed right in front of her… and not amused.

"Excuse me?" She asked in a small voice.

"I was asking what first line in the book I assigned you meant, but seeing how you are paying more attention to the boys in my class then my actual teachings, I'll ask someone else."  
Sakura could have put a fire hydrant to shame with the color of red her face turned. She suddenly felt like hiding her face in her book and shank in her desk as some of the giggle floated around class.

"Try to may more attention."

"Yes, sir." Was her muffled reply from behind her book, resulting in more giggles. As the teacher resumed his lesson, Sakura put her book down and did nothing but take notes for the remainder of the period. If she'd hadn't been, then she might have noticed the curious look she was getting from Gaara before he too returned to his note taking.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

"Who asked you?!" Sakura asked, amazed.

Naruto scratched the back of his head while looking at her sheepishly. "Yeah, I didn't believe it at first. I couldn't hear her at first and she I asked her to speak up she almost yelled "Go to the Home Coming with me." I couldn't really say no while everyone in the hall was staring at her."

Sakura had an idea that Hinata Hyuga had a crush on Naruto, but she never thought that the girl would ever be able to muster up the courage to actually ask him out.

"So you're really going to go with her?" Sakura asked.

"Well… yeah… I can't really say no… not after everyone laughed at her…"

"Can I sit here?" A soft voice said.

Both Naruto and Sakura looked up to see Gaara holding his tray of food and looking at them. Naruto gave Sakura another grin before taking a chair from another table and sliding it over between them.

"Help yourself." He grinned up at Gaara.

* * *

Author Note: 

So there is Chapter One, Part two. If you are wondering why I am spearting the chapters into parts, it's because each chapter is suppose to be during a certain season. One is in the fall, two in the winter, three in the spring and 4 four in the summer. There is actually a chapter five as well, but I don't know what season to put that in. Must look something up before I pick that one. The other reason is that each part is about ten pages long, depending on how you have your Word set up, and most chapters in books are longer then ten pages.

* * *


	3. Chapter 1 Part 3

Disclaimer: Naruto does not belong to me. The story on the other hand, does. If you take it claim it as your own work, I will find you and tickle you to death. You've been warned.

* * *

Chapter One, Part 3: What a Day.

It was during the start of October that Gaara had his first encounter with him. Normally Gaara only saw him from afar and didn't pay him much mind other then trying to avoid the swarm of girls around him. But on that one faithful day, it couldn't be avoided one way or another.

To his credit, Gaar had done his best to have lunch with Naruto since his last appointment, not so much with Sakura because she had her own group of friends to sit with during lunch time, but today he wanted some time alone. He had just finished eating and looking through the roof fence, watching as some of the kids were running about on the track field. He had one of his sketch pads out and was drawing the area beyond the fields. Landscaping wasn't something he normally did, but the weather was good and he wanted to give it a shot. The door had opened quietly and he was only aware of it because of the squeak it make mid way.

When he had looked up, he was surprised. Sasuke Uchiha looked back at him. He was alone. Their eyes looked for a few moments before Gaara went back to eating his food and looking down at the field. Even though he wasn't looking at him… his every nerve was paying very close attention to what Sasuke was doing. There had been a reason that Gaara had not liked Sasuke. Not a logical one, but one none the less.

He didn't trust him.

There were no outward signs… but it was something in the way he walked… how he carried himself… And Gaara had noticed very well at the look Sasuke gave those around him. Like they were something below him. Although he didn't try to attract a group of people, it seemed to happen naturally. While over half the school female population was drawn to it, he avoided it. He had seen that type of manner before and wanted nothing to do with it… ever again.

"What are you drawing?"

Gaara gritted his teeth for a moment before turning to look up at the other youth, who had quietly walked up behind him. He was looking at his pad of paper with mild interest… and that look. He had come to see if Gaara was interesting or not.

"Just some scenery art…" Gaara muttered. The strokes from his pencil were too hard. Too jagged. He forced his hand to relax before going on.

"It's nice."

"… Thank you."

Sasuke moved to lean on one of the fence poles, looking down at the view that Gaara was drawing. "You don't want to draw the people?"

"They move too much."

"I can only imagine."

There was a bit of a silence, and the pleasant mood that Gaara had been in was gone. Sighing, closed his sketchbook with a small snap and put it back in his bag. He stuffed the last bit of sandwitch in his mouth before putting his pencil away.

"It was nice talking to you, but I think I will be going."

"Going to class already?"

"No. I just don't want to be up here anymore." He placed his bag strap over his shoulder and stood up to leave.

"Do you hang out with Naruto because you like him, or because you like to know that you're smarter then someone else?"

Gaara paused at mid-motion as he stood. Grinding his teeth slightly, he straightened himself out and adjusted his bag. Pretending not to hear him.

"Or maybe because you think he's cute?"

Gaara couldn't stay silent after that comment. "Please tell me you didn't come up here to try and push my buttons."

"No…" Sasuke said. He grinned slowly, but it didn't touch his eyes. "I came to smash them."

They stared at each other. In situations like this, Gaara had only one weapon in his defense. His unblinking stare. His stomach was tight and at the moment he would have given anything to be in the cafeteria instead. He watched as the grin slide off Sasuke's face and how he was glaring slightly. There was tension in the air now, almost to the point where lighting bolts would spark.

Gaara was relived to hear the ten minute warning bell for class. He stared at Sasuke for a moment longer before turning his back on him and making his way for the stairs.  
"I'll talk to you later." Sasuke called out to him when he reached the door.

"I look forward to it." He called back. It wasn't till he was halfway down the stairs that he realized that he had actually said something sarcastic. His brother would be so proud…  
As if his day wasn't one a bad note now, there was also a teacher that was following Gaara around as soon as he reached the landing. The hallway was already busy with people going this way and that, chatting in the hallway or walking around in swarms.

'She must have been waiting for me…' he thought. She had been watching him quietly at the start of the school year, but when he saw her now, he saw that there was a certain determination in her eyes. With his luck, she would make him her little pet project like one of his teachers in his last school did. When he saw that she was trying to zero in on him, he tried to rush down the stairs to his next class, but…

"Mr. Sabaku." She called out for him. Her voice carried easily over the loud buzz of students rushing by in the effort to get to class. He couldn't pretend that he didn't her.  
Turning around, he made his way over. "Yes, ma'am?"

"Would you come with me to my office? Don't worry about being late to your next class. I'll escort you."

He couldn't say no. Bracing himself for whatever little pet talk she was going to give him, he nodded and followed her down the hallway. He felt like everyone in the hallway was looking at him, when in truth… they were all too busy with themselves to pay attention to another student and a teacher walking past them.

She lead him to a door near the principals office and opened. She waited for him to walk inside, and he had a sudden flash back at being at the therapist office. He walked in and took a seat in one of the chairs in front of her desk. She walked in and sat down.

"Would you like some tea?" she asked while pressing a button on a little desk water heater.

"No thank you." He wondered if he should take his bag and place it on the ground. He could be here a long time.

She didn't say anything while waiting for the water to boil. While he waited, the bell went off, signaling the start of the after lunch sessions. Did she want to talk to him about how he wasn't supposed to eat on the roof? No, she won't have called him in here for that. She could have just said that when she saw him.

The water heater was quicker then he thought it would be. She placed a tea back in the cup that was already on the desk and started to pour the water inside it.

"Do you have any after school activities?"

He lifted one of his non-existing eyebrows. "What do you mean?"

She shrugged. "Are you part of any clubs? Or are there any sports you are thinking of trying out for?"

"No." He said at length, not sure what she was getting at.

"Would you be willing to do one?" She said before sipping her tea.

"I don't know. I never really thought about it. Why?"

"I was wondering if you would be willing to join one of the school clubs… I think you have some talent for it." She said while setting her cup down.

"Which… club?"

She didn't say anything at first, and then softly. "Chorus."

"No." It out of his mouth before he could even think about it. He had a horrible image of himself trying to sing some song in front of a large group of people and felt stupid for it.

"Now wait, wait, wait…" She waved her hands at him, not wanting to leave. "I know it isn't something that you might be interested in, but I really think you would do really well. Don't take this the wrong way… but you have a very nice sounding voice… and we are short on male singers."

"I'm sorry, but I am really not interested."

"How about just one practice?" She asked quickly. "Tonight? Just to see what it's like. They always say try something out at least once…"

He looked at the determination in her eyes and realized that the likelihood of her leaving him alone about this subject after he left her office was zero. She might even send some of her little singer girls after him. He could make up some excuse… but he couldn't think of anything. He had already confirmed that he didn't do anything after school besides get on the bus and go home…

"…fine. I'll come tonight."

"Oh, thank you." Her grin was huge and bright enough to take the place of the sun. He felt strange for knowing that he was the cause for it. "Let's get you to class then." She was so happy while she escorted him down the hall that she was practically prancing. When they reach his class, she opened the door and poked her head inside.

"I borrowed one of your students. Sorry for the inconvenience."

"Just don't make a habit of it. Get in your seat, Sabaku. You're just in time for the fun bit."

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

"Hey Sakura…" Ino caught up with Sakura in the hallway again, although unlike normal, she seemed to be a little worried. "You're friends with that red haired goth guy, right?"

"You mean Gaara? Kind of. Why?"

"I think you should tell him that Sasuke is gunning for him."

"What do you mean?"

Ino looked around for a moment to make sure that no one was paying attention to them as they stopped outside Sakura's next class. "You know that I am doing that teacher aid thing, right? I work in the main office… well… so does that Karin girl… I saw her snooping in some of the student files last period. His and a few of the other students."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah, cause she's not much of a filer so I was able to see which ones she was looking at."

"What makes you think that she just isn't just looking for potential boyfriend material?"

"Come on… you know she licks the ground Sasuke walks on. She'd be more then happy to snoop in some files to let him know what his competition for the year is. There's something else too…" the warning bell went off. Ino shoved a small packet of paper in Sakura's hands. "Don't get caught with that." She said before running off  
Sakura after Ino before going inside the class and taking her seat. In this class, Gaara normally sat right next to her, but when the bell that signaled class went off, he still wasn't there.  
'He must have eaten on the roof and not heard the bell.' She waited till the teacher turned his pack on the class to write something on the white board and then took the papers and tucked it into the sleeve on the inside of her binder before she noticed what the top of it said.

Assessment Report: Gaara Sabaku  
Before she could stop herself, she read more. She skipped past the student information till she reached down to:  
REASON FOR ASSESMENT:  
Gaara has enrolled in Konaha High School with a IEP (Individualized Education Program). The assessment is to determine if he meets criteria for attending the following honor classes due to his two year absent from his schooling.  
BACKGROUND INFORMATION  
The Medical History is not on file at request of his guardians.  
Gaara is presently living with his older brother and sister who as his guardians. He has previously lived with his father(seven years) and his uncle(three years), however, due to domestic issues with both of them, he was removed from both their homes and placed in a foster care till his sister file legal paperwork to take him with her and his older brother.

The rest of it was blocked by the binder sleeve. As much as she wanted to read more of it, she forced herself to close it and pull out her notes and made the attempt to pay attention. She remembered the day that Gaara and his family had moved in… and how the first thing she thought was how young they all were.

Because they all were young. The woman there had been the oldest… not even twenty-five…

…due to domestic issues with both of them, he was removed…

Normally that meant only one thing… and then missed two years from school? Was that possible? Didn't people show up on your doorstep when you were gone for more then three days? She was extremely tempted to open her notebook and look at the rest of the packet of paper… but she didn't want to get caught… and then explain how she got it.  
The door to her class opened and Mrs. Yuhi popped into the room, looking extremely happy, with Gaara in tour. He looked rather miserable. As if someone had just told him he had to clean the school buses by hand.

"I borrowed one of your students. Sorry for the in inconvenience."

"Just don't make a habit of it. Get in your seat, Sabaku. You're just in time for the fun bit. Open you book to page forty-nine. Now as I was saying… when Francis Quarles wrote…"

Sakura watched as he took his seat next to her and rummaged though his bag for the text book… and recognized the look a student gets when they find out that they don't have the book they need. She scooted her desk over to his till the top corner of her desk touched his and pushed her book over the junction so they book could read it.

"Here." She said softly.

"Thank you." He placed his notebook on the desk and started to take notes. She wanted to say something to him now… but it wasn't the time and place. She would talk to him after she got home… and after she finished reading the packet.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0

He placed the phone on the receiver and thanked the secretary before walking out of the school office. He left a message on the answering machine saying that he would be coming home late tonight. Sighing, he walked down the hallway, going in the opposite direction that most of the other students were going.

'Just one time, and I won't ever do it again. I'll tell her I didn't like it and she can find some little church boy to sing for her.'

When he managed to find the class, he was surprised to see that there was only one other person.

'She's not short on male singers… she's short of the whole chorus…'

The other girl was sitting in one of the chairs in the center of the room with her hands in her lap. She was pale like him, but her hair was long, reaching down to her mid-back. Its dark blue color made her pale complexion stand out even more.

She gave him a small wave. "H-hello."

"Hi." He moved and thought about taking a seat on the other side of the room… but surprised both of them by sitting next to her.

"Did Mrs. Yuhi ask you to join as well?" The girl asked after a moment.

"'Asked' is the nice way to put it."

The girl actually smiled at that, and Gaara saw that she was very pretty when she did so. "Mrs. Yuhi is very determined when she wants something. My name is Hinata." She held out her hand for him to shake, which he did.

"Gaara." Hinata… Hinata… where had he heard that name before. It took him a moment before he remembered. "You're the girl that is going out with Naruto, right?"

Her entire face went red. She started pressing her two index fingers together while quickly saying, "Well, no… We're not going out. We are just going to the Home Coming. I don't think he has time for a girlfriend and I also don't think I am his type and…"

"Breath." Gaara said, which she did. He found it amazing that she had even been able to ask him. Was it possible for someone to be so shy?

The door to room opened again and Mrs Yuhi walked inside. "Hello my two stars."

"We're you're only stars." Gaara said dryly.

Unfazed by his comment, she walked over to rack on one side of the room and pulled out two booklets. "Do either of you have any experience with music?" She asked while walking back to them.

"I play the piano." Hinata said, taking the booklet.

"Violin." Gaara replied, surprising both girls. "Used to. I haven't really touched it in a while."

"And you're both not in band?" Yuhi asked amazed.

"My father felt I should be working more my academic goals." Hinata looked down at her hands. "I wanted to, but he said that I should work towards more important things."  
"I need the credits from the classes I am taking now to get out of High School on time. Band wasn't part of the education plan that was set up for me."

"Well, lucky me then." The teacher said. She moved to take a seat at the piano in the room. "Lets go over some warm-ups."

0o0o0o0o0o0o0

"That was a good workout!" Guy said. The only other person standing in the Karata club was another boy, Lee. The rest of the class was either laying on the ground or sitting. To Sakura's credit, she was one of the ones sitting and not nearly passed out on the ground. She was normally still standing with Lee, but she had slacked off over the summer vacation and it was showing. "You are all shining examples of youth!"

"Thank you, sir!" Lee called out. The rest of the class muttered something along the same lines. "Rise! Bow!" He called out. The students stumbled to their feet and made clumsy bows to the teacher, each other and the flag.

"You are all dismissed! Study hard and I will see you tomorrow!"

The newer club member's moaned at the thought of coming back the next day. Sakura straightened herself up and stumbled out of the doju with the rest of the students. She wasn't sure that she had the energy to take a shower and still make it on time to the after school actively bus. She got back to the locker room, she just stuffed her normal clothes in her school bag put her shoes on and walked out in her Gi.

There was a cool breeze when she walked outside. It ruffled her clothes and dried the sweat on forehead. Sighing, she went and made her way to where her bus would be. As she climbed down the stairs, she saw the normal group of after school clubers waiting for their own bus. It was easy for her to pick out who belonged to what club. The kendo team sat on the grassy hill, with Sasuke sitting in the middle of the group. The soccer team would the ones passing the ball back and forth. Normally Naruto was with them as well… yell out encouragements and… wait… he was there. She stared at the back of his head while he was balancing a ball on top of it.

'So much for hitting the books hard this year.' She mused. 'Mr. Jiraiya must have talked him into joining again this year.'

"Hello Sakura." A soft voice said behind her. Turning, she saw Hinata and… Gaara. She didn't remember him doing anything after school normally. Was he doing some extra tutor session today?

"Hi. How are you two?"

"Good." Hinata said.

"Well enough." Was Gaara's simple answer.

Hinata shared a few more words with them before walking over to Naruto, saying she wanted to talk about some Home Coming details with him. They waved her off and watched as she jogged over to him.

"They are an interesting pair." Gaara said while watching them talk.

"I think they are rather cute together." Sakura smiled. She looked up at Gaara. "So, what kept you here so late?"

Gaara shifted, "I… joined a club."

"Oh really? Which one?"

To his relief, there was a loud stomping sound coming up from behind them. Both of them looked back at the school to see Lee running towards them. He had already changed back into his normal day clothing, complete with still wet hair from the shower he must have taken.

"Sakura!" He skidded to a stop in front of them. "Go to the Home Coming with me, please."

Sakura rolled her eyes. "How many times do I have to say no before you'll stop asking?"

"Until you already have a date, but even then, my devotion to you will not stop!"

Gaara noticed that there were a few people looking at them, enjoying the show. He sighed and was about to walk off so the 'lovers' could quarrel… till Sakura's arm wrapped around his.

"Well, I am going with Gaara."

* * *

Author Note:

I ended up picking Susake to be the bad guy in the story because I need some kind of drama. Gaara going to school isn't complete without some kind of competition / confrontation, and I didn't want it to be some kind of kiddy drama. He was the best option because even in the manga/anime Susake always wants to be the best.

There is a reason why I had Gaara played/playing the violin, which will be explained in later chapters of the story. For now, you can just sit there and wonder :P.


	4. Chapter 1 Part 4

Disclaimer: Naruto does not belong to me. The story on the other hand, does. If you take it claim it as your own work, I will find you and tickle you to death. You've been warned.

* * *

Chapter 1, Part four : Stuck

"You know… correct me if I am wrong.. but don't you normally ask the person you want to go out with before you tell everyone else?" Naruto asked while resting his head on the seat in front of Sakura.

All three of them were at the back of the bus. Gaara hadn't said anything since Sakura had pronounce that she was going with him… and Sakura had been a bright shade of pink since she sat down. The first thing she had done was apologize, but Gaara was out in his own little world and didn't respond to her.

"I know that!" She snapped at him. "I was just… just…"

"Na, relax Sakura. I don't think it's that big of a deal, right Gaara?" Naruto turned to look at the red head, but he was still staring out the window. Not for the first time did Sakura wish that he was capable of showing some kind of expression on his face other then frowning and his current blank look. The rest of the ride was quiet. Naruto had turned around in his seat to try and cram what school work he could while he was still on the bus. The bus itself was mostly empty, since not many people stuck around for clubs. It was almost like having their own privet limo… except it was bright yellow with uncomfortable seats.

Even when they were off the bus and walking back to their own apartment building, no one said anything. Naruto waved at them and then jogged down the street, chanting a song about ramen as he went. Sakura thought about trying to start up some conversation with Gaara on they way back, but couldn't think of anything that would have sounded like she was trying to make up for the stunt she had done at school. It wasn't till she was at her door and he was about to go up his extra flight of stairs that she finally said something.

"Look, I'm sorry. I know that it was wrong, and I shouldn't have used you to try and get out of something." She wasn't sure if she way happy or worried when he stopped to look at her. "It was just… I panicked. I'm really sorry."

He stared at her for a moment before turning to face her fully. She wasn't sure if she liked that either. "Well, you're stuck now."

She blinked. "Stuck?"

"Let me know what you're going to wear so I can get the corsage." Without another word he turned and went up the stairs. It wasn't till after she heard his front door open and close that she realized what happened.

She was going to the Home Coming with Gaara.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0

The secret to having a therapist was that you couldn't lie to them. Well… you could, but then there was nothing they could do to help you. In short… you had to tell them everything and be honest will all the questions they gave you. You had to be ready and willing to tell them things that you didn't want to tell someone else. Even your family. Almost like a diary, but you didn't have to worry about if someone found it. And it would give you medication if you said you felt like killing yourself.

When Gaara went in for his next monthly appointment with Dr. Hatake and he asked him how he had been since they last saw each other… the crazy day just came tumbling out. The therapist ended up getting him a bottle of water to drink because he had talked himself dry.

"Sounds like it was a very big day for you."

"It was a crazy day. Is everyday outside of school like that?" He took a small sip from the bottle.

"Only when the planets align the right way." Kakashi joked. "Yes and no really. You can go for weeks on end with nothing happening at all, and then have one of those crazy days. It happens. And it's normal. It sounds like you dealt with it very well. What did you do when you got home?"

"I just… laid down face first in the bed for awhile. Let my brain try to process it."

"Have you had any other encounter with the one boy?"

"No, I've made it a point to stay away from him."

"That's probably for the best really." The white haired man jotted something down on his notepad before intertwining his fingers in his lap. "While some people are like water, refreshing and energizing, there are some that are like poison for our bodies. This role is normally filled by a female figure; women who were treated badly by their own mothers, but once in awhile you'll get the one man."

"So what should I do?"

"What you're doing now. Avoid him and stay with your current friends. Some will tell you that you need to confront him, and while that might be honorable, poising people aren't honorable. I suspect that he also has an alpha male complex."

"What's an alpha male complex?"

Dr. Hatake waved one of his hands in front of him, as if trying to fan the words he needed to himself. "It's where has a dominating male presents. In the family, it's the father or a brother. There was one case where it was a grandfather. I am sure you have seen enough TV shows where the younger brother feels pressured because his older brother does so well. That's an Alpha male complex. People with these types of figures feel that they have to fill their shoes, or surpass them even if there isn't a need for it. I had an alpha male complex when I was growing up. It's how I got this." He pointed to the scar over his eye.

"Sounds fun."

"It's not. Anyhow, moving on to something else. What kind of corsage are you going to get?"

0o0o0o0o0o0

"How about this one?" Hinata asked.

She was holding up yet another dress to Sakura. The two of them along with Ino were out at the mall. They had planned a trip to the mall with the goal of finding suitable dresses to wear for the upcoming dance. Ino and Hinata had already found their dresses, but Sakura was the tricky one.

"I don't think brown is really a good color…" Sakura said. "It wouldn't clash well with my hair…"

All the dresses Hinata had brought were either the wrong cut or color, while Ino had a habit of suggesting the shortest dresses she could find. And while they were all nice… she just couldn't see herself in them.

"You have legs, Sakura. You should show them to make up for your lack of other areas." Ino said after Sakura had turned down yet another one of her suggestions. She's patted her own chest to make her point. Sakura snorted at her, mentally screaming cursed at Ino, and turned to look at another dress rack. So what that her chest wasn't like Hinata's… she wasn't flat chested like some other people.

"This would have been easier if the school had decided to not make it formal wear." She muttered while looking at another dress on the rack. "I have plenty of casual clothes."

"Awww… come on now. This is our chance to dress up like pretty princesses and go to the ball." Ino said., walking over to her and resting her chin and Sakura's shoulder. "Take advantage of it. Enjoy your decent down the ballroom stairs."

"By ball room, I hope you mean the school gym." Sakura grumbled.

"Spoil sport." Ino retorted and walked off. "We'll be in the food court when you are done."

"Having a little trouble ma'am?" One of the cashiers has walked over to her.

"Well… I am looking for something for the home coming this week, but I can't really find anything that I like too much. It's formal, but I really don't want anything too flashy… or dull…"

The woman thought for a moment and looked Sakura over a bit. "Well, what kind of look are you going for? Elegant? Showstopper? Or something that you'll be able to dance in?"

Sakura thought for a moment. She couldn't really picture Gaara doing any type of active dancing; other then the slow dances… if that.

"I guess… something elegant and simple?"

"Any color in mind?"

"Red." The word popped before she could even think about it.

The older woman tilted her head to the side. She was silent for a moment while she thought, and then a slow grin crept onto her face and she looked back that Sakura.  
"We got this new order yesterday. I think there is a dress in there that you might like." She motioned Sakura to follow her and lead her to the back of the store by the staff door.

"Just wait here. I'll go get it. We haven't even opened all the boxes yet, so this may take me a moment."

Sakura nodded and watched as the other woman went into the door. When it closed, she noticed some shawls on display and walked over to look at them. She was inspecting a black one with little red bamboo leaves on it when the door opened again.

"Here, try this on. I think this one is your size." The woman said, handing the bundle to Sakura.

The dress was still wrapped in paper, but it was thin enough that she could see that it was red. Going over to one of the dressing rooms, Sakrua went inside. Unwrapping the paper covering it, she held up the dress for inspection.

It was simple…

It was red…

…and that bust-line was kind of low…

'Well… it can't hurt to try it on…' She thought. Once she had the dress on, she turned this way and that while looking in the mirror. The cashier has a good eye. The dress fit her perfectly. While the bust-line on the halter top part of the dress was short, it did a very nice job of defining what she had. The dress hugged her waist and then flared out at her hips, but dragged a little on the ground.

'I'll have to wear heels.' She mused. She turned back and forth a few more times, did a little walk, and made up her mind. When she had changed back into her clothes, she walked over to the cashier.

"I'll take it."

'I wonder if it's this hard for guys to get nice clothes…' Sakura thought while handing over the money. She took her bag and went to meet Ino and Hinata.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0

"Do I really have to do this?" Gaara asked his brother. He was looking at the store in front of him and was wishing that he was back home already.

"Do you have a spare tux lying around?"

"…no."

"Then we have to do it. It's not that bad. These kind of things are pretty quick. At least last I went. Come on." Gaara sighed and followed his brother inside the store.  
Gaara still remembered the stunned look on his brother and sister's face when he had sat down at the table that morning and announced that he would be going to the dance and was in need of something to wear. Most of Gaara's clothes were… well, he had nothing formal. Or even formal casual.

"Tuxes cost money you know…" Temari had said.

"Not as much if we rent it. Besides… I think an occasion like this calls that we dip a little bit into the trust fund. " Kankuro had said around a mouth full of food. "I think that there is a place down town that we can go to. We can head out there after breakfast if you want. I'm sure they'll be open by then."

Course when he was went in, Gaara didn't have an idea that there were so many different types of suits. It seems that different suits were used for different occasions. You had the wedding suit, the prom suit, the business suit… and then there was the domestic partnership suit. Those had a wider selection of colors.

Kankuro set his brother the task of finding a waist coat he liked. "Even though you are going in a tux," He said, "almost 90 percent of the time you end up taking off the jacket because it's too hot to walk around in. The vest keeps people from seeing you sweat most of the time."

'They need to teach this stuff in school…' Gaara thought as he held up two different tux vests. He ended up picking the dark red one. Afterwards he tried on two pairs of shoes and then the full suit before they walked out of the store. Gaara ended up switching the white shirt for a black one, causing his brother to say that he looked like someone from a gangster movie.

"Well, that's it." Kankuro said when they left the store. Gaara held his shoes in one hand, while carrying the suit in it's garment bag in the other. "Wasn't so bad, was it?"  
"I'll order it online next time…"

0o0o0o0o0

Gaara surprised Sakura again the following Monday when she sat down next to her in their English class and dropped one of the homecoming tickets on her desk.  
"I hope you don't mind…" He said after a moment. "But I really don't want to go to the game. Not really a sports fan."

"Ah, no. It's ok. I don't really like watching them myself either. Not as much fun. I like to play, not watch." She gave him a small smile. He only nodded and took out his notebook. She narrowed her eyes at him for a moment, and leaned in. He froze when her hand reached out and brushed his bangs from his forehead.

"Is that… a tattoo?" She asked, looking at the mark on his forehead. She couldn't believe that she hadn't noticed it till now. All those mornings he stood next to her, days when he sat next to her in class and she had never seen it.

His face blushed slightly and he gently moved her hand away so he could straighten out his bangs. "Yeah. I got it a long time ago." He turned away form her and busied himself with looking for something in his bag till the teacher came in and class started.

'I shouldn't have touched him… I don't think he likes it…' Sakura thought while the teacher lectured on. 'He tensed up when I touched his arm last week too.'

'… due to domestic issues…'

She took a peak at him from the corner of her eye. He had the frown on his forehead again. She noticed that whenever he was thinking about something, he was normally frowning.  
What was he thinking about? Was he thinking about how she had just abruptly touched him without asking? Or maybe he was regretting this whole going to the dance thing. He certainly didn't seem very pleased about it… actually… he didn't seemed like anything. It was starting to frustrate her to no end. She wanted to rip his mask off and have him show expression like the rest of the world. She wanted some kind of hint as to what was going on in his head.

"I think he'll warm up to us!"

That's what Naruto had said. Sakura took a deep breath. Maybe Gaara was just shy like Hinata, but where she would blush and turn her head away, Gaara must have… closed himself off. He also didn't seem very used to people…

'I'll wait then… I'll wait till he warms up to us… and maybe then he won't seem like such an enigma to me. I'll wait because… I want to be his friend too.'

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

He had been staring at the back of her head while the class was waiting for the teacher to arrive. He had done so in the last class as well, although unlike her, he hadn't been caught and made fun of by the teacher. Why was he looking at her? He wasn't really sure. The one question that Dr. Haratu has asked kept flittering about his mind.

"So how does she 'bother' you?"

Well… that was the thing. She didn't. Not in the way that Naruto did. Naruto 'bothered' him because he was always reaching out to him. Always talking to him. Always trying… to be his friend. Sakura 'bothered' him because, unknowing to her, she was making him want to reach out to her. While they shared so many classes together, the two of them never really talked. The most that they had ever said to each other was on that one night when she had apologized for using him to get Lee to leave her alone. Not that he minded though.

No, he didn't mind at all.

He remembered the small shiver that had gone up his back when she had touched him and said what she had. Or earlier that day when she had moved her desk closer to his so she could share her book… and that she was close enough that he'd been able to smell her perfume. When she touched his forehead earlier, he enjoyed the feel of her warm fingers.  
At the same time though… it was happening too fast. He wasn't ready for this. Not mentally or physically. A part of him wanted to go home and lock the door and stay there till he was able to fingered out his thoughts and feelings.

Besides… She didn't really seem all that keen on him anyway.

* * *

Author Note: No note on this one really. I didn't want to have to explain in the next chapter what they were going to be wearing, so I just ended up doing it in this one.


	5. Chapter 1 Part 5

Disclaimer: Naruto does not belong to me. The story on the other hand, does. If you take it claim it as your own work, I will find you and tickle you to death. You've been warned.

* * *

Chapter 1, Part 5: The Home Coming

"We'll be riding in style!" Naruto chortled on the morning before the Home Coming.

"Dad gave me the car. You guys can come and ride with me and Hinata."

The leaves were finally starting to change color. Starting the slow transition from deep green to yellow and red. Along with it, the temperature had also dropped drastically, causing the three of them to wear heavy coats. Gaara was comically in a large winter coat complete with scarf and wool hat.

"I use to live in the desert." Was the only thing he said when the two of them had stared at him when he was walking to the bus stop. He had buried the lower part of his face into his scarf, allowing anyone that was looking at him to see only his eyes and the bits of red hair that were poking out of under the wool hat. He didn't even want to think about what he was going to do when it actually snowed.

"He completely surprised me. I was about to head out the door and he tossed the keys at him and told me to make sure I didn't bang it up. This party is going to rock, I can feel it."

"Just don't crash the car like you did with the one in Driver's Ed."

"Hey, that wasn't my fault! I told you… the tire blew and I couldn't control the car."

"Riiiggghhhttt…" Sakura said teasingly.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

He knocked on the door after inspecting himself for the third time. He couldn't help by feel almost like some kind of clown in these clothes. The jacket didn't give him full movement of his arms and he ended up not putting on the tie, rather leaving the top button undone so he was more comfortable. He also ended up redoing the part in his hair so the tattoo on his forehead showed, since she had been so interested in it.

Footsteps sounded behind the door, the sound of a lock and then the door opened. Sakura peeked her head out. She had done her face up a little, and pulled her hair back.

"Give me five minutes and I'll be right now." She said and closed the door. Gaara made a silent prayer that her five minutes wouldn't turn into fifth-teen, something that his sister was good at. He looked down at the corsage he had gotten for her. He had ended up getting the one that wrapped around the wrist, and wondered how she was going to put it on.

Was he suppose to help?

The door opened again and Sakura walked out. She pulled a small dress jacked over her shoulders and closed it, covering up her dress before he could actually see it. She held out something to him in her hand.

"I… I got you a boutonniere. I thought it was only fair since you got me something." She said while holding up the said item. "I'm not very good at putting these on… Just… don't move." She said while stepping closer and tried to work the pin into his jacket. It was a single red rose with some greenery wrapped around. It was simple and went along well with their little red and back theme.

"I'm not very good at putting these on either." Gaara said holding up his own little flower arrangement. Once she was done, he mad the attempt to tie her on her wrist, and ended up need her to hold it in place while he tied the ribbons.

"It's pretty." Sakura admired the pink flowers. "Shall we go down stairs and wait for the chariot then? I don't think Hinata lives too far away."

"He's picking her up first?"

She shook her head and started to walk down the stairs. Slowly because of the dress and heels. "No, us first. I just hope he remembered how to put it neutral this time."

"… How bad of a driver is Naruto?"

0o0o0o0o0o0

Naruto wasn't had of a driver really… if you didn't mind him driving 20 over the speed limit. Hinata was sitting in the passenger seat holding onto the hand rail above the door and buckle of her seatbelt. Sakura and Gaara were doing something similar in the back of the car. Gaara was grinding his teeth together while Sakura yelled at Naruto every time he narrowly avoided a car.

"Slow down!" She yelled at him.

"Naw, we're ok." Unlike the rest of his passengers, Naruto looked as if he was sitting on a park bench watching people go by. "I just don't want to be late."

"It doesn't start for another 20 minutes… we'll get there before the doors open at this rate." Sakura shrieked as they weaved through another set of cars. "You're going to get us killed!"

"Have some faith in your driver." Naruto replied.

"I'd have more faith if it was a monkey driving and not you!"

"Pfh, fine." Naruto eased up on the gas. "We'll be fashionably late then."

The rest of the passengers shared a sigh of relief and let of their safety equipment. Gaara and Hinata flexed their hands a bit to get them out of the death hold they had been in.

"So," Sakura said, trying to find something to fill the sudden non-terrorized silence.

"What did your parents say when Naruto showed up. It looked like you guys were talking for awhile."

"They hated me!" Naruto said with a bright grin on his face. He acted like he was saying the complete opposite. "Well, her dad did anyway. I don't think you mom minded too much." He looked over at Hinata who gave him a shaky smile.

"Mom thought you were nice."

Sakura sat back in her seat and listened as the couple in front talked. Despite the huge difference in their personalities, they seemed to go well together. Tonight would be a fun night for them. She spied Gaara out of the corner of her eye.

'I wonder what kind of night we are going to have…'

He looked back from the window to her, catching her looking at him. "What?"

"Oh… nothing… I was just wondering…um… do you have any hobbies? Every time I see you, you are always doing something school related. Homework, reading school books…"

He seemed surprised…or she took the small wrinkle in her forehead as surprise. He really needed some eyebrows. She watched as he tilted his head to the side.

"I don't really have anything. I read and draw a little bit, but that's about it. I'm not really too passionate about anything."

"What about the violin?" Hinata piped in. "Don't you play that?"

"I haven't since I moved here. It's still packed away in a box in the living room."

"We need to take you out more." Naruto said while turning guiding to car down an exit from the highway. "Get you into something manly… like video games."

0o0o0o0o0o0o0

"Do you want to take a taxi home?" Sakura asked as they walked into the gym area. "I don't think my heart can take another trip on the Naruto roller coaster."

"That would be preferred." Gaara like Naruto and thought that he was a nice person and well ment… but he would be damned if was going to get in the car with him again.

They both looked around the gym area, which had actually been nicely done. It was stilly empty for the most part. All the car washes, bake sales and what ever other fund raiser and done for the school seemed to pay off.

'It almost does look like a ballroom.' Sakura thought while taking her jacket off and handing it to a freshman that had been tasked with coat duty. 'I guess I can pretend a little bit…'

She turned to look at Gaara who was also taking in the decoration. "Wanna grab a table?"

He nodded and paused. He seemed to think about something for a moment before holding out his arm. She blinked at him and then smiled. She carefully wrapped her arm around his headed toward the tables. Getting an empty table was easy, since most of the school still wasn't here. Most of the other students wouldn't arrive till 30 minutes after the actual start time, where as the egger beavers and those that didn't care for a dramatic entrance were already here. Most were sitting at tables and chatting while the DJ played a few mellow tunes.

"Don't you two make a cute couple." Ino said from behind them. She smiled and took the seat next to Sakrua and started the normal talk of "Oh, doesn't you're dress look nice."

"Love the shoes" "You did you hair so nicely" and so on and so forth, while Ino's date took a seat next to her. While Sakura was chatting, she was unaware of Gaara's eyes roaming over her.

'Girls shouldn't be aloud to wear things like that.' He thought when she leaned forward to look at something Ino was showing her, giving her a better view if her bare back. He had a brief moment wanting to reach forward and run his fingers over her skin, but thought better of it. Instead he distracted himself with some novelty items in the middle of the table.

People were starting to file into the gym now, and the noise factor rose. More people joined their table and were all talking to each other. Gaara spotted Naruto and Hinata on the other side of the gym talking to some other students and noticed how Naruto had a possessive arm around Hinata's waist.

Was he suppose to do that?

Gaara looked around at the other students and wasn't sure. He spotted some who were sitting like him and Sakura were, others that hand their arms intertwined… and few that were hiding in the darker corners of the gym. The place was now full of people. Gaara found himself watching them all interact with each other. How the guys high fived and some girls did hugs.

"Alright everyone sit down…" An old man walked onto the mini stage area that was set up near the DJ. The students started to file about the room finding friends and sitting at tables with each other. Naruto and Hinata came over to join their table along with a few other people that were there. There was still a bit of chatter, but died down quickly as the old man looked at them. "Now as you all know, we had a victorious game today…"

Gaara looked from the old man back at Sakura. She was paying attention to the principle with her hands in her lap. Without thinking about it, he reached forward and grabbed the underside of her chair and pulled her closer to him. She looked up at him, wide and blinking. He waited another moment before awkwardly draping an arm on the back of her chair, not really touching him. They stared at each other for another moment before she gave him a small smile and sat back in her chair and turned her attention back on the old man talking.

'No so hard…' Gaara thought while also turned his attention on the speaker.  
The principal stepped down so the student body president could come up and out a few sport awards and then made another announcement that Gaara didn't pay attention too because Sakura had leaned back farther into the crook of his arm. He was more then able to smell her perfume now. Her hair smelled like strawberries.

Suddenly the students were getting up and walking over to the buffet table on the far side of the room. Their table waited and the chatter in the room started up again. Sakura was still leaning into him while talking to Ino and Hinata.

"Come men folk!" Naruto said, standing up dramatically. "Let us go and fetch our women food."

Gaara mentally grumbled when he got up. He missed the warm spot that Sakura had made there. He wanted to stay and keep smelling her hair and enjoy the feel of her against him. He popped his knuckles while he followed the other men.

"He doesn't look half bad when he's dressed up." Ino teased when their dates were out of ear reach.

"Yeah, once in a while Naruto can look presentable." Sakura said while watching them walk over to the mob at the table.

"I was talking about your date, Sakura."

Sakura shot daggers at Ino which caused the other girls to laugh. "That's not funny."  
"I'm serious. You almost wouldn't think he was some little goth kid."

"That 'little goth kid' has a higher GPA then you could wish to have." She wasn't sure why she was getting so angry like this. One part of her agreed with Ino, but that didn't mean she would let other people talk about him like that.

"Awww… you're defending him. That's so cute."

Sakura felt a vein popping. "At least I didn't come with the creepy little art kid."  
"He's not creepy." Ino frowned, not liking this turn of events.

"Anyone that always has that little smile on his face is creepy."

"So says the girl with the date that has no expression."

They two glared at each other for a moment before breaking out into friendly laughter. The other women at the table gave them a worried look, except Hinata. She had been around them long enough to know that this was their normal behavior.

While the girls continued to have their little chat, the men were making the attempt to get enough food for them and their dates. Gaara wasn't sure which foods to get while Naruto was heaping food on his plate.

"I think they're arguing." Sai said while looking over at the table.

"Eh? But they are all smiling." Naruto said around the mouthful food he had just taken.  
"I saw my sister smile sweetly while running after my brother with a kitchen knife once…" Gaara said, also looking back at the table. He noticed that everyone was looking at him. "What?"

0o0o0o0o0o0

Gaara watched the taxi drive off, with Sakura's arm warped around his. He felt… content. The night had gone well, better then he thought it would be. He didn't want to take Sakura up to her apartment yet… he wanted to enjoy this closeness and touching a little bit more. Amazing how when you never had anything like this how much more you wanted it.

"Want to go for a walk?" He asked.

"Sure. Where would you like to go?"

Gaara thought for a moment. He didn't want to go walking around the streets at this time of night. It late and dark and the creeps would be out and about. He didn't want to risk it.  
"Well… I know one place."

She shivered a little bit. It was colder up on the roof then it was on the ground. Gaara took his jacket off and draped it around her shoulders. He moved over to AC unit and reached under it and pulled something out, careful not to get his cloths dirty. She shook them slightly and set them out.

"You hide camping chairs up here?" Sakura asked as she watched him set them up.  
"My sister and I like to star gaze now and then. We got tired of carrying them so we just leave them up here. There." He offered one of the chairs to Sakura and sat down in the other.

"How often do you come up here?" She asked while sitting down.

"Once a week, if weather permits." He was looking up at the stars, picking out certain plants and constellations'. "It's just something she and I use to do."

Sakura leaned over to remove her heels and sighed at her feet flexed and felt free from the camped space they had been. Women were able to wear the pretty colors, but the men got the comfortable shoes to wear.

"You looked really nice tonight." Gaara said after a moment's silence.

"Thank you. You cut a rather dashing figure yourself. Back to the normal cloths tomorrow?"

"Yes…" His hand reached up and undid another button from his dress shirt. "It's hard to move around in this."

When he rested his hand on his arm rest, Sakura looked at it for a moment before moved her hand over it. His hand moved till he had his finger lightly intertwined with hers. She enjoyed the warmth that his hand gave.

"You know… I've never been able to figure out what you are thinking." She said. When he looked over at her, she was thankful that it was dark enough out that he couldn't see her flush. "I mean… you keep to yourself a lot. Every time I think I have an idea of what you might do, you always surprise me. Like coming with me tonight… or even this." She squeezed his hand.

"I… wasn't expecting this either…"

Sakura smiled at him and lend her head back in her chair and looked up at the stars. They stayed up there for another hour, enjoying the stars, the silence and each other's company.

0o0o0o0o0o0

She knew something had changed for sure when she opened the front door the following Monday and saw that there was someone was waiting for her. Gaara was leaning on the banister, munching on his bagel. He saw her and stood away from the wall.

"Good morning."

She smiled back at him. "Good morning."

End of Chapter 1

* * *

Author Note:

I have many big plans for this chapter, but what I have here will do for now. When I go back to rewrite it, there will be many add-on and changes. Muhahahaha!


	6. Chapter 2 Part 1

Disclaimer: Naruto does not belong to me. The story on the other hand, does. If you take it claim it as your own work, I will find you and tickle you to death. You've been warned.

* * *

Chapter 2, Part 1: Exploring

The summer was officially over when the leaves turned from their deep green color to the fall firework colors of yellow and red. Leaves fell like snow on the ground and cars, giving the whole world a brighter look. Gaara, who had never seen a turn of the season before, was fascinated with it. Although he was still in his heavy jacket, scarf and wool hat. It seemed that if it was not 85 degrees outside, he thought it was freezing. It was something amusing to both Sakura and Naruto.

"It's not that cold you know..." Sakura said as they walked to the bus stop one morning. This morning was different then the last two weeks as he had reached out to hold her hand this time. He seemed hesitant to make any kind of physical contact. She decided that the Home Coming night must have been a big effort to him... and she didn't mind this slow pace. Most of the time she had been the one to reach out, take his hand and hold it.

"At the end of the school year, I'll take you to where I use to live and see how you like the change of weather." He muttered into the scarf.

"I don't think I would do well in the sun." She was enjoying the warmth that his hand was giving hers. He pulled both of their hand into one of his jacket pockets. "What was it like there?"

He thought for a minute, and she could see his eyes change a little bit. He looked a little sad. "It was very nice. You can see the starts much better at night... mostly because we don't have all of this." He waves his hand at the lamp post and buildings.

"You miss it?"

"I miss the heat." He retorted and buried his face deeper into his scarf.

Sakura chuckled. She looked at what bit of his face she could see. He's pale. Very pale for someone who came from the desert. The memory of when the Sabaku's moved in popped into her head. His sister was slightly tanned and from what she had seen on his brother, he had the darkest skin of all.

'So Gaara stayed inside, his sister went out now and then and his brother went out the most?' She hadn't seen his family since the one day they had moved in. All the mornings that she had walked to the bus stop, she had never seen their car either. 'I suppose that is a question for another time.'

When they turned to corner and walked over to Naruto, they did their morning routine. Sakura and Nartuo would talk, and Gaara would pull a book out of bag and read it. Naruto seemed to have taken the fact that Sakura and Gaara were together rather well, although he never said anything about it. He would grin at them every morning and start some kind of conversation. This morning he seemed to be in a happier mood then normal, if it was possible.

"I think I am taken with her." He said to Sakura.

"You mean Hinata?"

The two of them seemed to have bloomed since the night of the dance. Hinata stilled blushed and played with her fingers when talking to Naruto, but they had taken more to hand holding in the halls and Naruto had started to eat with her a few times during lunch. Something that Sakura and Gaara had not done yet.

In fact… Gaara had taken to having his lunch on the roof again. Not only that, but he didn't really treat her any different then before when they were at school. Sakura wasn't sure if she should be bothered by it or not. She wanted to ask him about it, but another part didn't; knowing that he had some kind of reason for it.

"Yeah. She's a sweet girl." Naruto said. "I am thinking of taking her out this weekend. Do you guys want to tag along? Make it a double date?"

"It depends. What are you guys doing?"

"I was thinking of doing something fun like mini golf. 18 holes and afterwards we'll go to a fast food place or something."

"I'll go." Gaara said, looking up from his book.

"Awesome! Let me give you the address." Naruto pulled out a bit of scrap notebook paper and started to write on it. "Or do you guys want a ride with us there?"

"No!" Both of them said quickly.

0o0o0o0o0

Sakura lay back on her bed a few days later reading the package of paper again. She had read it so many times that the pages were starting to wear out on the edges. The results on his testing were all at 100, impressive, but it was the comments on the bottom that kept drawing her attention.

_BEHAVIORAL OBSERAVATION  
Gaara came to the testing willingly and performed to the best of his ability. He stayed on task and did all necessary actions. Gaara's behaviors revealed him to be withdrawn and would only say one or two words when spoken too, unless it was a test question requiring a longer answer. Despite all previous reports indicating he had difficulty with math and English four years ago, he was able to complete both test quickly and flawlessly. Recommend retesting to make sure he has a full grasp on the fundamentals._

'I bet he didn't like that.' Sakura thought. The rest of the report was fairly cut and dry, but she could see in it what would make Gaara Sasuke's next target. His placement test were all at 100... More so, she also knew that Gaara was doing well in his classes. He was getting the highest scores on all his test and homework assignments. Some of the teachers had even stopped picking him to answer questions. If Gaara had taken up a sport, and been good at it… Sasuke would already be doing something.

Or was he doing something now?

Sakura sighed. There had been a time when she had been part of the group of girls that worshipped Sasuke. She had done everything to try and get her attention, which had been her downfall in the end. She studied hard in school and joined the karate club, hoping that if they had something in common that they might be closer together.

_"Don't fool yourself into thinking I like you. You're ugly and annoying."_

She set the papers down next to her and looked up at the ceiling. Gaara was moving around his room again. Pacing it sounded like. Her eyes were following the sounds of the creaking wood as he walked from one end of the room to the other. She got up and tucked the paper into one of the draws of her desk before reaching into the closet for her jacket. Sakura talked to her parents for a few moments before stepping outside and walking up the stairs. She knocked on the door and waited as she heard footsteps approached the door. When he opened, she smiled at Gaara.

"Having trouble sleeping?"

"No, I was just putting some of my books away."

"Need some help?"

"Sure."

He opened the door wider for her and she walked inside. She let out a 'Whew' as the heat from inside the apartment hit her. She fanned herself with one hand. "I'm surprised the landlord hasn't gotten on you for the heating bill."

"He did at first, but we are always able to pay it, so he left us alone."

She looked around the apartment and noticed a huge difference from her's. There were still a few boxes tucked away in corners, but that was not what the caught her attention.  
The walls were painted. Not a solid color, but a whole landscape. Each wall had a different scene on it. They were all breath taking, one was the view of a large mountain with a misty look, giving the whole thing a magical look. The walls in the kitchen had been painted over to give it an old country house look, complete with a pretend window with a view of a cow field. The wall behind her had a desert view, with the sun setting on the horizon. All the different sceans were blended together. The only wall that didn't have a landscape look on it was the wall with the window that faced the apartment parking lot. Instead there were pictures painted there, although Sakura was too far away to make out what they were.

"Wow..."She said while still looking around. "You guys did this?"

Gaara nodded. Sakura turned to look back at him and noticed that he was smiling. Not with his whole face, but with his eyes. "You like it?"

"It's beautiful." She said looked at the walls again. She walked over to the wall with the little pictures and took a closer look at them. It took her a moment to releazie what she was looking at, but they were picture replicates. One was of a toddler Gaara sitting in his sister's lap while laughing and reaching up for a small puppet that his brother was entertaining him with. Another one was all three of them sleeping together with the blankets wrapped around them like it was a nest. Then there was a picture of a later time frame. Gaara was older, almost thirteen, sitting with his brother and sister on a checkered blanket. All the pictures were either of him when he was a toddler or where/after he was thirteen.

"Family pictures?"

He nodded. She looked at them again. Just the siblings. No mother or father pictures. There was nothing in the report about his mother…

"So... where are those books at?"

He turned to walk down the hallway, which was painted to look like it was a forest path, and went into the room that would have been her bedroom if she was downstairs. It was arranged a little different. He had moved his bed against the shorter wall, to give him more wall space for his bookshelves. 'Some books' ended up being about five midumsized boxes worth in the middle of the room, with three boxes folded up in one corner. Besides the boxes that littered the area, his room was well kept. He didn't have a desk in his room, but under the window was a hope chest with a lock on it. On top of the lip as carving of a cute raccoon with the words "Gaara's Box of Tricks" carved in a calligraphy style.

"What's with the raccoon?" she asked, pointing to the chest. Gaara tapped one of his temples. Sakura blinked at him for a few moments, not understanding at first. "Oh," She raid. "It's because of your eye makeup?"

Gaara grimaced a bit. "It's not make-up, I was born like this."

The pictures that she had seen on the one wall popped into her head. In all of them, Gaara did have the same kind of eyes. "So… it's a birthmark?"

"Yes." He reached over to open of the open boxes, pulled out a handful and started to place them on the shelves. Sakura took it as a hint saying that he didn't want to talk about it. She imagined that he had been teased about it when he was younger.

"Any order to the books?"

"No, I just want them out of the boxes right now." He picked up a few books and started to put them on the self. Sakura took off her jacket, laid it on the bed and helped him put the stack the books."

"You have so many..." She said while looking at the spine of the ones she was currently holding. One was about physics, another one was a history book... and oddly enough, the third was the Grim's Fairy tale book.

"I went though a book phase... I read every book I could get my hands on. I am still in that phase I think."

She smiled, liking that they had this in common. "I'm a book worm as well. I read a little bit of everything." She paused as she looked at the cover of one book. "You like this one?" She held up the book.

He looked over his shoulder at her, his eyes flicked over the book. "It's not my favorite, but I did enjoy reading it."

"It's... it's my favorite." She looked back down at the book. "The spine on the one I have is all worn out. I had to duck tape it so it wouldn't fall apart."

Gaara turned back to finish stacking the books he held in his hands. He fingers ran across the rows of book and then pulled one out. Walking over to her, he handed the book to her. "Try this one. It's one of the author's early books, but under a different name."  
"I didn't know that he wrote under a pin name."

"I think he does it so he can write a different theme of book without getting criticized for it. He has a few more current books out under that name, but this is her better one."

"How do you know that he wrote it?"

"There's a passage he wrote in this one," he tapped the book he was holding, "that gave him away. That and in the back, where he lives and his birthday are the same."

She looked up at him, "You notice things like that?"

"I try to. Sometimes it's the small details that matter." He was still holding the book out to her, waiting for her to take it. She reached up and took it, looking at the cover. "If you like his other book, then you'll like this one." He said.

"Thank you." Sakura said softly. She placed the book on top of her jacket. "I'm not much help right now, am I? I keep getting distracted."

"You're keeping me company." Gaara picked up another stack of books and started to place them on the shelf.

"Where are you're brother and sister at?" She stepped up next to him and starting putting her own stack of books away.

"Working. My brother doesn't come home till ten and my sister around four A.M.."  
"What do they do?"

"My brother works over at the hospital and my sister is teaching a night class."  
Sakura raised her eyebrows. "What is it that they do?"

Gaara picked up another stack of books before responding. "My brother is a puppeteer. He works over at a Day Care Center, but at night he goes over to the hospital with a few others to entertain the cancer ward... or where ever they are sent there. My sister teaches Astronomy, hence why she works at night."

"So... you're home alone most of the time?" Sakura turned to look at him.

"Yes, but I see them in the morning and on weekends. We try to do things together on Saturday and Sunday." He finished putting away what books he had and went to pick up another stack. Sakura did the same.

'No wonder it is so quiet at night... there is practically no one here. I wonder if that is why he is so quiet.'

By the time they had finished putting away all the books, it was already half pass nine. Sakura and Gaara were sitting in the living room and unpacking the boxes there. Those where boxes full of nick knacks; what looked like souvenirs, a few picture frames and some pretty things that Sakura was sure belonged to Gaara's sister. Sakura felt a little more useful helping him put those away since she had a better eye for arrangement then Gaara did.

When they were done, the boxes in the living room and his room were empty and collapsed in one corner of the living room. Sakura plopped down on the sofa while Gaara went into the kitchen and pulled out a cooking pan and rummaged in the fridge. She watched his back as he turned on the stove and started to cook some hamburger. Gaara had pulled down a box of something when the front door opened.

"Honey, I'm home." Kankuro said as he walked inside. He stopped as soon as he spotted Sakura. "Who are you?"

"She's... my girlfriend." Gaara said over the sizzle of meat.

"Oh, you have a girlfriend now?" Kankuro said as he dropped a large back on the ground by the door. He walked over to his little brother and wrapped an arm around his shoulders. "You're going up so fast. First getting all dressed up and now you have a girl. Now all we need to do is get you a job." Sakura couldn't see the look that Gaara gave Kankuro, but the brown haired man laughed and walked over to take a seat next to Sakura.

"I'm Kankuro, by the way." He said to her, but didn't offer his hand. It wasn't a rude juester, but something more relaxed.

"Sakura."

"You live near here?"

"I actually live in the apartment under you guys."

"Oh really?" He lifted his eyebrows and glanced over at Gaara before looking back at her. "Are you sticking around for dinner?"

"Um, no." Sakura looked at her watch. "It's late and I need to get ready for school tomorrow." She stood up and stretched before walking down to Gaara's room to fetch her jacket and book. "I'll see you tomorrow morning. Thanks again for the book."

Gaara turned to wave at her and watched her till she closed the door behind her. He saw the look that his brother was giving him and frowned. "What?"

"She's cute."

"I noticed." He turned back to tend to the food. He drained the meat and then added the seasoning from the box before put it back on the stove.

"So... what were you two up to?"

"She was helping me unpack the remaining boxes."

"That's it?"

Gaara glared at his brother. "Yes, that's it."

Kankuro grinned at him. "Lord knows that if I was lone with a pretty girl like her I would be doing more packing then unpacking." To his satisfaction, he saw his Gaara's ears turn red. Gaara finished making the hamburger helper and placed it on the table for his brother to eat and went back to his room, closing the door behind him. Kankuro chuckled and went to go and eat his dinner.

They had gotten better.

It was something that even Gaara couldn't deny. Although he and Hinata were still the only ones in the 'club', their practices were much better then before. Once Hinata was used to the idea, and use to them, she was able to sing more fluently. He had proven more difficult due to his lack of… well… singing experience. He understood music and what went with it, but actually singing was hard for him.

"You need to put more feeling into it." Had become Mrs. Yuhi's motto to him, which was an even more complex idea for his mind to wrap around.

He wasn't sure why he was still going. Every time he walked through the door, he was determined that it would be his last visit, only to come back the next day. He couldn't understand it really. One part of him said that he did it because if he left, Mrs. Yuhi would only chase him and pester him till he came back.

"Alright… we are going to try something new today." She handed them a new booklet. Looking at it, the title was 'At the Beginning.'

"I want you two the sing the solo parts. Gaara, you take the lyrics on the bottom and Hinata, you have the top."

"There are some parts in here that require an actual chorus…" Gaara said while he sight read the music sheet.

"You let me worry about that. Now from the top…"

'She's up to something.' Gaara thought as he went back to the first page. He shared a glance with Hinata and knew that she was thinking the same thing. She shrugged at him, 'What can you do?'

"Victory!!" Naruto yelled as his golf ball went into the hole.

"That's just the first hole." Sakura said, placing a hand on her face in embarrassment. Hinata only giggled, thinking it was cute. Gaara was watching with curiosity next to Sakura.

They had opted to come out for a late afternoon game so they sun wouldn't be in their eyes, but they wouldn't freeze at the same time. The place had quite a few people there, mostly families and a few groups of friends.

"But it's a good start! Losers have to buy dinner." He sounded cocky.

"I hope you're ready to fork out that money…" Sakura said as she placed her golf ball on the tee. She looked at the ball, the hole and the obstacles in front of it before hitting the ball. Everyone watched as it bounced from one corner, rolled up and down a hill and went inside the hole. She flicked her hair in a mockingly. "…because I'm the mini golf queen."

The overall game went well. Sakura did the best. Gaara did fairly well, not as well as Sakura, although it took him a few tries at first, his game improved the longer the game went on. Hinata always hit the ball too softly and ended up taking the most turns. While Naruto's first ball was a success, he ended up losing most his golf balls because he kept hitting them too hard. They would fly into water pools, fake waterfalls or somewhere else that he ended up having to climb over something to get it back. The staff were very irritated with him by the time they were done.

"Well... that was fun." Hinata said while they were eating. Naruto was hanging his head in defeat. She smiled at him and intertwined her arm with his. This brightened him up a little.

"Don't be so gloomy. It's you're fault that you lost anyway." Sakura said. "You're too impatient. You need to think things through more."

"You're so mean." He said while giving her an accusing look. Naruto turned to look at Gaara. "Is she like this with you?"

* * *

No Note. 


	7. Chapter 2 Part 2

Disclaimer: Naruto does not belong to me. The story on the other hand, does. If you take it claim it as your own work, I will find you and tickle you to death. You've been warned.

* * *

Chapter 2, Part 2: Night Terrors and Daily Pleasures

Gaara was sitting on the school roof, mulling over all of it in his head.

He was at war…

Not so much in the physical sense of the word, but he had no doubt that he was going to war with Uchiha. The actual flag had not been waved yet, but it was only a matter of time. For the most part he felt like he was sitting on the other side of a chess board only to find out that he had no playing pieces except the King, while Sasuke had everything. All he could do was wait till the first move was made, and sadly… he didn't get to go first.

Sasuke was popular, and he wasn't.

One win for Sasuke.

Sasuke was Captain of the Kendo club and practiced five times a week with the school team. Gaara only jogged two miles in the morning…

Another win for Sasuke.

Sasuke had money to burn… Gaara lived on his brother and sister's salary. Despite the trust fund he had, he was saving it for when he went to college.

Three wins for Sasuke.

Sasuke was the student body president. Gaara didn't even bother to go to the meetings.

Four wins…

Gaara's grades were better then Sasuke's.

One win for Gaara.

The odds didn't seem to be in his favor, at least when it came to the school. Sasuke had everything that was almost required to be popular.

What else he knew of Sasuke didn't make things better. There had been a day when Gaara was in the school library looking something up for one of his mid term projects and without thinking he had typed in Uchiha in the search engine. What he got made him feel a little ill.

The Uchiha family was a big one and with old money. They specialized in special operations training for police and military. It was run by Sasuke's father and was going to be passed down to Sasuke himself in later years. Gaara had also found an article on Sasuke's older brother, Itachi. Although the article didn't say anything about him being related to the main family, it was hard to believe that he wasn't. His eyes and hair were the same as his little brother's and the face belonged to the mother. He wouldn't have to worry about the brother possibly stepping in... He seemed to be on some quest to improve himself and his skills in another country. Or so the article said.

He got up to peer over the fence and look down at a group of girls walking below. Sasuke's little wolf pack lead by a girl named Karin. He'd seen them out and about the school most of the time, and normally they didn't pay him any mind. Lately though… he's notice out of the corner of his eye how they would stop talking when he went by to stare at them. Naruto had also made a passing comment once at lunch time when they sat a table close to him.

"Hook ya and then break ya."

He wondered if they were looking for him now… probably not. He hoped not. Sasuke could have easily told them that he came up to the roof. While he could be with Sakura fairly well, he wasn't sure if he could handle that lot.

Gaara sat back down. So what was he going to do? He wasn't going to stop getting good grades just to make someone leave him alone. His pride and the fact that he wouldn't be able to get his diploma wouldn't let him. It was in the agreement with the school… if he took the honor classes… and passed them all with flying colors, they were willing to over look the fact that he had missed two years. Yes, he could take the GED, but that wasn't as good as the actual diploma.

He would simply have to wait and see what happened. Maybe he could win with just one piece.

0o0o0o0o0

"I would like to try putting you on the Doxepin again." Dr. Hataka said.

Gaara was silent at the comment, although the look he was giving Hataka was more then enough to tell the man what he thought of this idea.

"I know you had some… unique side effects before… but you're in a different environment and more mentally stable now. It wouldn't be a lot, just for a week or two."

"I really don't like this idea." Gaara said between gritted teeth.

"I know you don't."

"What if I'm not ready?"

"Well… try it tonight. If it goes well, then you can take it till it's gone, and you're body should be use to sleeping at night by then. If not…" he shrugged. "We can try again later."

Gaara was quiet for moment before finally nodding his head.

"Good. I think it will do you a lot of good."

"I thought sleeping pills were actually bad for you."

"They are… if take for long term. But this is only for a little bit. You shouldn't have to worry about any addictions or dependencies. Now…" he looked at something on his note pad for a moment. "How goes you're relationship?"

Gaara blinked at him. "My… relationship?" He thought for a moment. "It's going well. Why?"

"Truthfully? I'm curious and a little worried. Normally people with your history Gaara have two problems." He held up one finger. "They can't commit to a relationship for a long period of time. They aren't emotionally stable and have a hard time understanding their partner." He held up another finger. "They are overly sexually active."

"I thought that was a problem all teenagers have."

His comment made the therapist chuckle. "It is, but it is also long term as well, but is just the thing. You don't have these two problems because your reaction to your abuse is different. Instead of becoming more of a…" he paused for a moment trying to think of the word.

"Man whore?" Gaara supplied.

"Not what I was looking for, but it will work. Instead of becoming of a 'man whore' you've refused any type of contact, both mental and physical. You closed yourself off from everyone and everything. So it's interesting to see what will happen now that you're opening up. It's also concerning because I am not sure how you are going to react to the feelings that you're peers have already mastered."

Gaara looked off to the side for a moment, thinking. He tapped his fingers on the chair before looking back at the white haired man.

"How do you think I will do?"

He lay in his bed staring up at the ceiling. His chest was tight and his heart was thundering in his ears. Gaara took a deep breath and tried to relax. It was just one night. The first night. Most likely it would go well. His therapist thought that he would do fine; he needed to have a little faith in him. The small bottle of doxepin sat on his bedside table along with the empty glass of water he had taken some time ago.

Closing his eyes he too in a deep breath. He held it till he counted to five in his head and slowly let it out. It took a while for his body to relax completely. When he did he started to mentally think: 'One sheep… two sheep… three sheep…'

He opened his eyes and felt drowsy when he did, causing his body to panic again. Growling in frustration, he rolled over and buried his head into the pillow. Was it really important that he sleep like everyone else?

Gaara peeked on of eyes out of the pillow. While it was still dark in the room, he had left his little lamp on… should he wake up in the middle of the night; he wanted to know where he was. Next to the lamp was a small picture that he had just recently put there. It was one of those professional pictures with him, Sakura, Naruto, Hinata and a few other people that Naruto hung out with. The two couples were sitting in the back while everyone was sitting in the front. It was medium sized photo that Naruto had surprised him with one morning.

"They came out really well, didn't they?" He had said.

No, they hadn't come out well… they had come out fantastic. Gaara's eyes filtered across it, moving down to the people in front row. They were all guys… one with a lazy expression on his face, one that needed to go on a diet and another with a piercing stare. What had their names been? He couldn't remember. They been rushed into joining them in the photo by Naruto…

His eyes then moved over to Sakura. She was what had made the photo fantastic to him. Her sparkling eyes, bright smile and that dress… why did women wear dresses like that? Gaara began to wonder what it would be like to do more with her then just hold her hand… to hug her… to kiss her. To hear her while kissed and nibbled her neck… to… to…

Gaara's eyes closed as he finally fell asleep.

_He was standing in the corridor again. Not the one in his home, but the one in… that place. It was so long that it went farther then his eyes could see. Dim lights overhead gave it an eerily feel, its light reflecting off small metal squares on the doors there. Each one had a symbol on it, although he didn't know what any of them meant._

_  
His body was shaking violently. He didn't want to be here… and he knew that he couldn't simply wake up, but be victim to the dream that was about to happen. The light over him flickered and he started to move. He didn't want to be in any part of the hallway that would be dark… that was when one of the doors would open._

_  
There was a difference in this dream. The cold concrete floor was damp. He looked down, watching the small ripples his feet made as he moved. A pipe must have busted somewhere and flooded the floor. At least he wouldn't be able to see that horrible lime green color. Another light flickered and he walked faster. _

_  
A door opened behind him._

_  
"I'll find you… you can't hide from me, you little brat." It didn't sound a like a voice at all, but a thing. Something large with teeth and claws. It's voice wasn't really a voice, but a growl that hand learned to form words._

_  
He gritted his teeth and started to jog. The lights behind him were going out faster and he could hear the stomping sounds as something was coming from him. There was heavy breathing as the thing behind him tried to catch up to him._

_  
A door in front of him opened suddenly, but instead of going in when it opened, it went out. It hit him square in the face and he fell backwards. Something warm was flowing from one side of his face. Touching it, his tattoo was bleeding again. He rolled to his feet and ran around the door, seeing two decaying hands emerging from the shadows of the room, reaching out for him…_

_  
"My boy… my boy…" A raspy voice said softly. "Give me my boy…" It was quickly drowned out by the sound of the thundering foot steps coming for him._

_  
He was running so hard now that his legs were screaming at him to stop and the air in his lungs burned. He was barely keeping up with the lights as they were going out. Now they were going out fasert then he could up, first one… two… then three lights ahead of him were out. The thing behind him was close, its breath hot on his neck and he could almost feel something trying to grab his shoulder._

_  
"I'll break you… break you in two."_

_  
All the lights in the hallway went out. Two hands that felt like steel bars warped around his neck, choking him. He fell to his knees, clawing and batting at the hands around his neck, trying to scream, trying to call for help. He kept trying, fighting, jerking, kicking and…_

_  
_…he woke up in one corner of the room on all fours. He was banging his head repeatedly into the wall. He was screaming something, but it was muffled by the pillow that one hand had stuffed into his mouth. His thought hurt, as if he had been screaming for a while.

He felt disoriented, as if the hands were still around his neck and blood was still running down one side of his face. It took him a moment to realize that the hands he thought were around his neck were actually on his shoulders, shaking him. Gaara shoved the person away from him and tried to crawl away from where they were. It took him ten minutes to remember the layout of his room before he found the little trash can in his room. Pulling it close, he huddled around it with his head hanging over the opening before becoming violently sick. Even after he emptied the contents of his stomach, he dry heaved till his mid section hurt and tears were running down his eyes.

Once he was done, he felt hands touch him again. He moaned at them, tried to move away, afraid that they would try to choke him. They wrapped around his shoulders and pulled him away from the trash can and into a hug. A voice was speaking to him, chanting something, but wasn't able to make it out at first till he woke up a little more.

"… it's ok, Gaara. It's ok. It's safe here. It's ok…"

His sister holding him, gently rocking him back and forth, chanting the same thing over and over while he trembled in her arms. He clung to her as tears still ran down his eyes. He barely noticed as he brother came to into the room, took something off his bedside table and then walked out. It was much later when his tears stopped… and even longer for his trembling to go away.

Later on when he looked at the table, he noticed that the pills were gone.

0o0o0o0o0

"Will you come up and have lunch with me?"

Sakura stared at Gaara. The class before lunch had just let out and Sakura had gathered her things and was about to head out the door. "You don't want to eat in the cafeteria?"  
He shook his head. "No. I just want to eat with you today."

"Well…ok. Let me just go and drop my stuff off and I'll meet you there."

He nodded and filed out of the room with the rest of the students. He'd been weird all day. She remembered when she seen him that morning, his eyes blood shot and haunted looking. Even Naruto had noticed, but every time they asked him if he was ok, his response was: "I didn't sleep well last night."

Sighing, she went to her locker, tossed in her morning books and pulled out two more along with her lunchbox. She was careful when she went to stairwell, making sure that there weren't any teachers looking before opening the door and darting inside. The stairway was dark and she waited for her eyes to adjust to it before making the attempt to climb the stairs. When she was at the top, she readjusted her things before opening the door.

It was cold on the roof.

Sakura cursed herself for not thinking a head enough to bring her jacket with her. She spotted Gaara easily and walked over to him and sat down with him on a small bench someone had brought up ages ago. He was looking over the edge the building at the empty sports field below them. She looked closely at his face and kept noticing how tired his eyes looked. Not sure what do to, she scooted closer to him and rested her head on his shoulder. A could wind blew, making her shiver and rub her upper arms. Gaara sighed and shifted so she had to move. He worked his arm out of his jacket and then pulled her close. She grabbed the part of the jacket he had worked out of and wrapped it around her. It and his body heat fought off the small chills that the wind brought.

"I didn't think you're jacket was so big." She said after a long silence

"It was my brother's. He has big shoulders."

"Are you going to tell me what's wrong?" She asked, looking up at him.

He turned his head to face her. "Can't I just sit with you like this?"

"Yes… it's just… I'm worried."

He gave her that small smile with his eyes again… and she noticed how close their faces where. Had they ever been this close before? Her eyes moved about his face, looking at his eyes, his hair, the tattoo, and then to his lips. She had unknowingly leaned closer to him, her head turned up slightly to his. Gaara suddenly tensed up, which made her realize what she was doing. Feeling a little hurt, Sakura lowered her eyes and pulled away… only to have his arm tighten around her.

"No… don't…" His voice was soft, almost a whisper.

A hand lightly touched her face, turning her gently back to him. They stared at each other for a moment before he lowered his head to press his lips to hers. It was a small and awkward kiss, since neither of them was sure how to go about it. When they parted, Sakura repositioned herself and kissed him again with her arms wrapped around his neck and his arms around her. His mouth moving over hers made her stomach do flip-flops and caused her to make small mewing sounds.

When they pulled away that time, Gaara nuzzled his head against hers, murmuring something in her ear that she couldn't make out. They were still holding each other close and Sakura felt a little giddy.

"Hm?"

"I needed that." Gaara said again into her neck, kissing a small trail down to where it met her shoulder; making Sakura's toes curl. He moved his head up to kiss her again, but stopped when her stomach let out a loud rumbling protest to the lack of food it was getting. Sakura's face flushed the same color as her favorite shirt and she ducked her head from him.

"Sorry."

He smiles and kissed her forehead. "Don't be."

* * *

Author Note:

I think out of all the chapters, this is the one that I enjoy the most. Not only because this is the first time Gaara and Sakura kissed, but because there was a lot of emotion in the chapter. I am not sure what I could do add to the chapter, but if someone has a suggestion I am more then willing to listen to them.


	8. Chapter 2 Part 3

Disclaimer: Naruto does not belong to me. The story on the other hand, does. If you take it claim it as your own work, I will find you and tickle you to death. You've been warned.

* * *

Chapter 2, Part Three: The Plot Thickens

Karin looked up at Sasuke with adoration. She had worked hard to do this for him and she hoped that he would be pleased with her efforts. She sat on her knees in front of him on her knees while resting her forearms on his knees. His eyes were moving over the paper she had worked so hard to gather for him. What she had brought him at the start of the school year hadn't really been anything for him. But this… this was big. She knew that he would be able to use this… and he would be so pleased with her.

It wasn't what the school assessment had said that had tipped her off to look for this delicious bit of information. Rather what it didn't say. Medical history withheld at the request of his guardians. And there was nothing in the world that she couldn't find out, it was just a little tricky getting her hands on it now and then. This particular bit of information had been difficult to get, but well worth it.

"Are you sure that this is all true?" He looked down at her. "Absolutely sure?"

She nodded eagerly at him. "I'm positive. I took it straight from the doctor's personal database."

Sasuke looked at the paper again, this time with a more thoughtful look on his face.  
"So, what are you going to do?" A white haired boy leaning against the wall said. "I haven't seen you this riled up since you were competing with Naruto in our sophomore year… only you didn't do well with that, did you?"

Sasuke glared at the other youth, who grimaced a little before turning his head away. Looking back at the bits of paper, Sasuke permitted a slow grin to cross his face.  
"This is going to be fun."

Sakura yawned and put the book that they had been going over to one side.

"Tired?" Gaara set aside his own book, his eyes watching her curiously.

They'd come up to the roof of their apartment to study; Sakura's idea. With the mid-terms coming up right after the Chirstmas break, she had suggested that start working on it now while they had time.Both of them had brought their books, but Gaara had thought a head to bring a few blankets with them. The sun was still up when they had come up a little after getting home from school, and now it was too dark for either of them read the book.

"A little. I was up late last night." She crawled over to him and curled herself into him, resting her head on his chest. He moved his legs on either side of her and softly wrapped his arms around her. "Aren't you tired?"

"Sometimes."

She lifted her head up at him. Her eyes looked amused. "Sometimes?"

"Sometimes." He said again.

Sakura looked at him for a moment longer before resting her head on his chest again. He moved his head to rest his chin on top of her head. He tilted his eyes up to look at the sky.

"What are you going to do when school is out? Go to college?"

"I think asking all those study questions has put you in a curious mood." He 'oof'ed when she poked him in the stomach.

"Don't avoid the question."

He was silent for a while. "I don't know. Haven't really thought about it. What about you?"

"I want to be a doctor." She said automatically. "My parents want me to pursue something else, because medically school is really expensive, but I'll waitress tables if I have to."

Gaara had a brief image pop into his head. Sakura in a little waitress outfit, someone grouping her and then them flying out the window. "I don't think you are cut out for being a waitress."

"Well, we'll find out in the spring, won't we?"

"What do you mean?"

"We have the job assessment exams then. They are suppose to tell you what you would be really good at and what not. I've seen some students get picked up right after they graduate." She looked up at him again. "Didn't you know?"

Gaara frowned. "No, they didn't mention that when I registered."

"Well… you should be allowed to take it. Not that I think you'll have a problem getting into any college with your grades. Besides, the test is required for all the--- You're not listening to me." She gave him a small mock glare.

He blinked at her. "Course I am."

"You're staring at my mouth."

"It's a pretty mouth."

"Un-hun…" She lifted herself up a little higher to give him a small kiss on the mouth before settling down again. They were silent for a long time, the sky slowly becoming darker and darker and the stars started to come out one by one. Gaara watched as a play high up in the air fly by, its small lights blinking. He liked this simple content he was feeling.

Never had he ever imagine that he would be like this. If anyone had ever told him that this is what he would be doing, he would have laughed. Amused that anyone would have let him back out into normal society again. Thinking back on it… Gaara considered himself lucky to be here at all, and even luckier to have what he had.

"I think…" He said after a moment. "I think I was to do something… useful. I don't want to do something that doesn't have any meaning behind it. When I'm old, I want to be able to look back on my life and feel like I was actually able to do something then simply getting by."

He waited for her to say something.

"Sakura?"

Gaara tilted his head a little bit to try and see her face. She murmured a little bit and repositioned herself against him slightly. She had fallen asleep.

"You're not listening to me." A small smile touched his lips. He pulled the blanket closer around them and rested his chin on the top of her head. Her body was a comfortable weight against his and her breath was warm on his chest.

He had been right.

That woman had been up to something.

Although he had worried about a little, he hadn't really put any actual thought into what it would be that she was do.. Looking back on as he walked down the hallway… he should have expected this from the start. He opened the door to the music room and was greeted from looks of both puzzlement and curiosity.

Mrs. Yuhi gave him a bright smile and beckoned him forward. Standing next to her was Hinata, looking liked the first he had see her; nervous and unsure. The whole room was filled with the school chorus class, all of them sitting on their benches. He felt like he was on some display at a zoo with the looks they were giving him. Gaara walked over to the teacher and handed her the note that had been brought to him by one of the office aids.  
'Takes my free time, and now my school time...'

"I'm glade you could make it." Mrs Yuhi smiled at him brightly. She was standing next to the piano, although there was someone that he didn't know sitting bench instead of her. An bear of a man who had a faint smell so cigarettes about him. "We should be able to get a good practice in before the concert."

He blinked. "The what?"

"The concert for the school. Tomorrow. I thought it would be a good idea to get you two in here to practice with everyone else just so we can work out the kinks…" She kept on talking, but Gaara wasn't listening anymore. His mind had gone somewhat numb and he now understood the look on Hinata's face.

She was completely terrified.

And now he was too.

"No."

The teacher stopped talking and gave him a look. "No?"

"No. You didn't say anything to either of us about a concert or…" He heard some giggles and chuckles from the other students and felt his face flush.

Mrs. Yuhi walked over to him and realized for the first time that she was actually taller then him. Something that he was not liking this. She leaned down a little bit so their eyes met. "You two will only being singing two solos."

They stared at each other for a moment longer before she held up the sheet music. His flicked over to Hinata and saw that she was already holding her own copy. He gave the paper a dirty look and took it, telling himself that he was only sticking around so Hinata wouldn't have to sing alone.

"Perfect. Now you two stand here…" She ushered the two of them in the center area. "… and it will be just like practice."

Sadly… it was not just like practice. Hinata had a sudden self conscious attack and lost her volume. The teacher kept asking her to sing louder and she Hinata was almost to the point of tears when the teacher called for a lunch break. The rest of the students walked out while the two of them took a seat on the now vacant benches. The teacher and the pianist had also stepped out of the room for a moment, leaving the two of them alone. Hinata sniffed and pretended that she wasn't crying, although it didn't help that the tears were still running down her face. Not sure what to do, Gaara reached over and held her hand.

"She got us." He said after a moment.

She let out something between a laugh and a sob. "She got us good."

He let go of her hand to pick up the sheet music again. Opening it, Gaara read the words to the song again. Actually reading them, not just flicking his eyes over them.

_We were strangers starting out on our journey  
Never dreaming what we'd have to go through  
Now here we are and I'm suddenly standing  
At the beginning with you  
No one told me I was going to find you  
Unexpected what you did to my heart  
When I lost hope you were there to remind me  
This is the start  
(chorus)  
And Life is a road and I want to keep going  
Love is a river I want to keep flowing  
Life is a road now and forever  
A Wonderful journey  
I'll be there when the world stops turning  
I'll be there when the storm is through  
In the end I wanna be standing  
At the beginning with you  
We were strangers on a crazy adventure  
Never dreaming how our dreams would come true  
Now here we stand unafraid of the future  
At the beginning with you  
(chorus)  
I knew there was somebody somewhere  
Like me alone in the dark  
I know that my dream will live on  
I've been waiting so long  
Nothing's gonna tear us apart  
(chorus)  
In the end I wanna be standing at the beginning with you_

An image popped into his head after reading the words. Him and Sakura sitting on the roof, her sleeping in his arms and him holding her. It gave him an idea.

"Pretend…" He said slowly. "Pretend you are singing for Naruto." He held the music up. "You have all this memorized, right?"

She nodded.

"Well… close your eyes and pretend that you just singing for him. Just him."

"I don't know…" She started to play with her fingers again. "It's kind of hard to do with a whole room of people…"

"If you can pretend he's a good mini golf player, then you can pretend it's just you two in a room."

That got a small giggle out of her. Hinata wiped her eyes one last time before sitting straight in her chair, her eyes closed. She took a few deep breaths, letting them out slowly. When she opened them, she looked better. Less scared.

"You think if I mess up, he'll take me out for ice cream?" She asked in good humor.  
"I think if you mess up, he'll jump up on the stage and make a fool of himself so no one notices." It was really easy for him to imagine. He could see it happen in his head… Hinata would mess up, get all flustered and off pace… people in the audience would start to wonder what was going and then Naruto would burst on to the stage, strike a few poses and then run off into the night.

She smiled, "He would too." Hinata looked determined suddenly. "I'll try my best."

When the rest of the students came back in, Hinata was looking much better and even he was feeling a little better.

"Alright you two…" Mrs. Yuhi held up her hands, signally all of them to stand up. "Let's see if we can do better."

* * *

Author Note: 

Of all the chapters in the story, I hate this one the most. It's awkward, and while it is kind of put together fairly well, it doesn't flow how I like. I feel I make Gaara a little more OOC then I would have liked in the later part of the chapter. If there is anywhere in the story that I would welcome suggestions or improvements, it's for this chapter. Help me!


	9. Chapter 2 Part 4

Disclaimer: Naruto does not belong to me. The story on the other hand, does. If you take it claim it as your own work, I will find you and tickle you to death. You've been warned.

* * *

Chapter 2, Part Four: Holiday Cheer and The First Piece Moves.

They day of the concert was actually the last day of the school before the winter break started. Everyone was bustling around with Santa clause hats, some were holding little stacks of presents to hand out to friends. With it, to Gaara's dismay, had come snow. He had it watched it fall the night before, praying that it would stop when the sun rose, but it didn't, much to everyone else's delight.

"It's not that bad." Sakura said. She had been grinning all more when she had seen him. Along with his heavy jacket, scarf and hat, he had added ear muffs and some mittens. All he needed was a snowboard and anyone looking at him would thinking he was going to the slops. "Think of it like a blank piece of paper waiting be drawn on."

"I'd rather think of it like this!" Naruto said, sweeping down to pick a handful. "Hey! Shikamaru!" He hurled the snowball at another youth some ways away. It hit him in the back of the head. Shikamaru turned to glare at Naruto before squatting down to pick up his own handful. Naruto was able to doge the first, but not the second one that Shikamaru and thrown at him with his other hand.

"Can we go inside now? I don't like the cold." Gaara said to Sakura, shifting from foot to foot. He nuzzled his face back down into his scarf and breathed some warm air from his mouth in the attempt to warm his face up.

"Sure. They'll be at it for awhile."

By the time they had climbed the stairs to the school, a full out snow ball battle had started in front of the school. Sakura and Gaara stepped to the side to let a few teachers out who were rushing to stop it. Gaara took off his hat and scarf once they were inside. He noticed that a few people in the hallway were staring at him, but dismissed it, thinking it was only because he was a little… overdressed.

"So, are you nervous about today?"

"A little." He followed her down the hallway to the section where their lockers were. "My brother and sister are coming too. Kankuro is threatening to bring a camera."

"Oh good, I forgot mine."

Gaara gave her a look. "Please tell me you are kidding."

"No, I'm not." She poked him in the side. "There are other things going on besides the chorus concert today. The chorus is something being done by the seniors, I think the Freshmen are doing a play and…" She pointed down a hall that had been decorated with seasonal colors. "The juniors are doing something, but I am not sure. The clubs are also doing fund raisers today."

"I don't remember anyone mentioning this…" Gaara readjusted his bag. "I wonder why I even brought my books now." He noticed that people were still staring at him. Some were even talking behind hands while a few pointed. 'Is it because I am in the chorus?' he wondered.

"Well, I am rather found of mine." She gave him a humorous smile. "I don't plan on going to play, so I thought I would go to the library and study a little."

Gaara opened his mouth to say something, but stopped. His attention had gone to the large group of people that were standing in his locker area… No. They were standing in front of his locker. The kids were all murmuring to each other while a few others were standing on tip toe to see what everyone else was looking at.

"Excuse me…" He said one of the students at the back of the small crowed. The sound of his voice had a strange effect. The people closest to him all turned to see him while a few others moved away. His stomach did flip flops and he started to muscle his way through the crowed. Once on the other side, he could see what it was that had gotten his attention.  
His locker had been vandalized. Going the long way were the words "Daddy Killer" were sprayed on in a bright red color. He stared stupidly at it for a moment before he noticed that there was a picture on the wall above it.

_I'll find you… you can't hide from me you little brat._

Gaara's insides went cold and hot at the same time, giving him a strange quizzes feeling. The picture was like the ones taken at a crime scene. In it was a man laying on his back in a small pool of blood. His face had a mix of anger and horror, where were reflected in the eyes that had not been closed yet. Sticking out of his neck was a hunting knife.

It took all of Gaara's will power to not run away at that moment. Instead, he swallowed down the lump that had formed in his throat. He slowly stepped forward, did the combination, placed his books inside his locker and turned to head to his home room. The small crowed of people parted for him easily. Sakura was looked at his locker with hand over her mouth, a small horrified look in her eyes.

"I'm going to go to the office. I'll meet you in home room." He waited for her to look back at him. She nodded and walked off to where her own locker was. Gaara watched her for a moment and then headed off to the principals office.

As he walked down the hall, he saw Sasuke. He was leaning against the wall talking to one of Kendo team mates. Gaara watched as Sasuke turned to look at him and give him a small, deliberate, wink.

And he knew.

He knew who had done it.

Gaara gritted his teeth and walked a little faster down the hall. His mind was racing with thoughts, possibilities and fear.

0o0o0o0o0o0

By lunch time, the school was buzzing. Most of it from holiday cheer and some from school gossip. Sadly, the school had not been able to anything about the spray panted words, but had managed to take down most of the picture that had been super glued to the wall. They said they would hire a contractor to come in and repaint his locker over the holidays. Gaara would just simply have to deal with seeing "Daddy Killer" on the door till then.

Gaara desperately wanted to go and be alone on the roof, but the combination of cold and falling snow had forced him to stay inside with the rest of the student population. Lunch was a free for all. With all the fund raisers and whatnot, lunch was not restricted to the cafeteria. Naruto had grabbed him and Sakura and brought them into the soccer club hamburger joint they were doing. They sat down at a round table with a group of people Gaara had seen Naruto hanging out with before.

"So what are you going to do for the holiday?" Hinata had asked when they sat down.  
"I don't know… I want to stay home, but my parents are making me go and visit family. It's troublesome." Shikamaru said around a mouthful of burger.

"I'll be helping my parents with the store. Christmas time is a great time to make some money. I might be able to get myself a nice little present if all goes well." Ino grinned.  
Naruto ran over to two plates of food in front of Sakura and Gaara. "On the house." He said before running off to help the rest of the team.

"What about you two?" Hinata turned to them.

"My family doesn't really do anything." Gaara said.

"Study, study…" Sakura added before taking a bite out of her own food.

"We should all get together and do something!" The blur that was Naruto said as he ran off to give an order to another table.

"Like what?" Shikamaru asked. "Parties take too much effort to put together… Lots of places will be closed."

"How about something simple? Maybe some ice skating at the park and then a movie marathon?" Sakura said, covering her mouth to prevent anyone to see the large amount of food in her mouth.

Hinata clapped her hands together. "That's a wonderful idea."

Gaara chewed his food slowly, wondering how many layers of cloths he was going to have to wear for the ice skating event.

"So, whose place are we going to watch the movies at?" Choji stuffed another hamburger into his mouth, earning a disgusted look from Neji.

0o0o0o0o0

"I thought you did really well today." Sakura said as they walked home. She was holding Kankuro's camera in one hand. He had rushed off back to work and told her to take some more pictures for him before leaving. Much to Gaara's annoyance, she did just that. It was a good thing that his brother and saved up to by a digital camera, because she would have gone through at least four rolls of film at the end of the day. Gaara counted his blessing that no one had brought an actual film recorder with them.

"Thanks."

"So… see you tomorrow?" She asked while stopping at her door. Gaara looked at her for a moment, his head tilted to the side.

"Will you come up with me for a little while?"

"Now?"

He nodded. "I want to tell you something."

"Sure… just let me drop myself things inside and tell my parents where I am."

"The door will be unlocked." Gaara quickly made his way up the stairs. More to get out of the cold then anything else. Sakura went inside her apartment.

"I'm home!"

No answer. She walked over to the dinning table and saw that her mother had left a note there.

_You're father and I are at a business party tonight. We'll be home tomorrow, because they are having it too far for us to walk and you father wants to drink to night. So we'll be in a hotel. The numbers of the club and the hotel we are staying at are at the bottom. There are some leftover in the fridge. See you tomorrow honey._  
_Mom._

'Well… That solves that…' Sakura walked down the hall and set her bag next to her bag. She paused for a moment and then opened her closet. She didn't want to go up in the reindeer sweater she had been wearing that day. She eyed a sweater and thought better of it. If they still kept the heating up the way they had before, she would melt in a sweater. She grabbed her red and white short sleeved hoodie instead. Pulling it over her head, she walked back down the hall.

She locked the door behind her and went up the stairs. She opened the door slowly and was once again hit by the heat wave, although it was welcomed after standing out in the snow filled air. She walked in quickly and closed the door behind her.

Gaara was sitting on the sofa looking at something on TV. A medium sized box was sitting on his lap. He also seemed to have a change of wardrobe, shedding his winter layers and changing out of his dress shirt and into a black shirt with red. Looking back over at her, he clicked off the TV. Sakura took a seat next to him, sitting close enough that he had to wrap an arm around her.

"What's up?"

"I know… I don't tell you a lot about myself…" He said slowly, pausing to pick his wards carfully. "And I don't because I don't like to… but… I think there are some things you should know."

Sakura was silent. Sighing, Gaara opened the small wooden box in his lap. Inside were array of photos, a small doll with strings hanging off it's limbs and a few newspaper clipping. Gaara's hand filtered inside for a moment before pulling out a photo. He handed it to her. Looking at it, she saw his brother and sister standing with a man and a pregnant woman. It took her a moment to recognize the man, since he face a much kinder look to it and he was smiling warmly. She could see where he got his looks from.

"That's my mom." He pointed to woman. "It was taken a few months before was born… she died in child labor. My dad was never the same after she died. That's what my sister says anyway." He took a deep breath before going on.

_At one time, there had been a family that was happy. The husband and wife had two beautiful children that were the best of both of them, with another on the way. Everyone was excited for the arrival for this new addiction to the family. However, something had gone horrible wrong at his birth. The doctors had only been able to save the baby and not the mother, who had but all her strength into bringing him into the world._

_  
The husband became a mess. He cried all the time and wasn't able to take care of his three children, resulting in the grandparents having to step in for a short while. Once he had overcome the grieving stage, he tried to put his life back together. He worked, took care of the children and made sure the bills were paid on time. _

_  
It wasn't till a few years later when people noticed that something was wrong. The baby, who was now a toddler at this stage, had become withdrawn. He didn't want to play and when people would touch him he would cower. Everyone thought that it was just the way that he was, clearly he wasn't a very social child. It wasn't till his father had messed up and hit him too hard on the back, resulting to a trip to the hospital. The doctors keen eye had been able to pick up on the signs right away, and a social worker was sent to the home. Unknown to the rest of the family, the father had been exacting his revenge for the death of his beloved wife by the thing that caused her death; their youngest son._

_  
All three children were taken away from and sent to live with their nearest living relative; their uncle. He was a loving man and took very good care of them. The two older children were in middle school around this time while the younger one was trying to finish up elementary. He was still anti-social, despite the efforts of his teachers and siblings. It was the middle child that was the next to notice that something was actually wrong with the youngest of the three. He had noted the tired look in his eyes, how when he did sleep all he had were vide nightmares that he wasn't able to wake from. The younger boy also stopped eating as much as he did and tried hiding in places that were hard for adults to get to._

_  
But it wasn't till he woke in the middle of the night and heard his little brother crying that he realized what was going on. He woke his older sister who stormed into their uncle's room with a baseball bat and hit the man on the back of the head. Together they pulled him off their little brother, packed their things together and left the house._

_  
The three of them were picked up and put into a foster home, where things slowly started to get better. The younger brother was sent to the thing that he needed the most: therapy. When he was about to enter his teenage hood, he had a huge set back that none of them had expected it. He had walked into his foster parents home to see that his father was there. Mad with grief and rage, he had come to find him and tried to kill him. Buy some metrical or luck, the boy had managed to fight off his father, take his knife… and stabbed him in the neck with it. When the police arrived, the boy was crouched against the wall, but had turned into a living doll. He didn't talk, more or anything else on his own. His mind had retreated in on itself, only allowing him to do the basic of eating and drinking.  
He was then sent away to a mental hospital where they tried to treat him, with every little luck. It wasn't till six months later that he finally came out of it. His brother had showed up with one his hand made puppets and started to entertain his brother. While the doctors told him that nothing would happen, they were wrong. The younger brother had started to laugh at his brother's puppet., and almost as if nothing had happened, he went back to the way he was before._

_  
At this point, the sister was trying to get custody of her little brothers so they could move out of their foster homes and live on their own. While the younger of the three, who was six-teen at this point, was home schooled himself to get him caught up with her peers, his sister and brother worked and worked. They didn't do well at first until something happened that changed their luck._

_  
While they hadn't known their grandparents very well, they had been very loved by them. When they passed away, the three of them had all been left a large sum of money, under the condition that they use it to do something that they love. For the youngest, his money was placed in a trust fund till he turned eighteen, while his brother and sister used it to do just what they were asked to do. Something they loved and enjoyed. _

_  
_Gaara swallowed, his throat dry like it had been the way day with Dr. Hatake.

"Why… why are you telling me this?" Sakura had been silent during his whole story. He had been afraid that she would get up and leave a few times, but she had stayed for the whole thing. She had lowered her head and her hair hide her face from him

.  
"Because," He licked his dry lips. "I think that someone is going to use all that information against me and I didn't want you to be blind sided by it… and… I trust you."

When she looked up at him, he was surprised to see tears in her eyes. "Oh, Gaara…" She said before wrapping her arms around him. "I'm so sorry." She said into his chest, her voice cracked with a sob. "I'm so, so sorry…" He wrapped his arms around. His vision blurred slightly and when he blinked, something hot ran down his cheek. Puzzled, he touched one finger to it. Looking at it, he saw that it was a tear.

In all of the eight years he had talked to doctors, psychologist and therapist, he had never cried. Now that it started, he wasn't able to stop it. The tears fell one by one down his face. His body trembled and his breath hitched. Without thinking about it, he pulled Sakura closer to him. He moved her so he could hide his face her shoulder.

Together they cried. For better or for worse, they cried.

0o0o0o0o0o0

When Kankuro got home, he was surprised by the sight in the living room. He was use to coming home and seeing Gaara watching TV… but the pink haired youth was a surprise indeed. He set his things down by the door and walked into kitchen. Looking over at them, the girl's head was laying in Gaara's lap, her eyes closed. Gaara's hand was lightly stroking her hair while he watched the flickering light of the TV.

There was something different in his brother's eyes. He wasn't sure what it was… but Gaara did look better.

"No dinner?" Kankuro asked

"I would, but I can't get up."

The brown haired youth chuckled and started to make his own dinner.

* * *

Author Note: 

Besides the grammar and spelling here and there… I really don't want to change this chapter.


	10. Chapter 2 Part 5

Disclaimer: Naruto does not belong to me. The story on the other hand, does. If you take it claim it as your own work, I will find you and tickle you to death. You've been warned.

* * *

Chapter 2, Part Five: The Winter Break

She was lighter then he expected. Gaara scooped her up and held her close as he walked down the hallway. She muttered in her sleep and moved around a little.  
"It's ok, go back to sleep." He whispered into her ear. She quieted down at his voice and rested her head on his shoulder. Gaara stepped into his bedroom and laid her down on his bed carefully. Trying not to wake her, he undid her shoes and pulled them off. He pulled the blanket up around her and watched as she made herself comfortable on his bed.

His bed.

Gaara hadn't slept on it since that one night when he had taken the doxepin. He hadn't even sat on it, spending most of his time in the living room or the chair in his room. He didn't have a reason for it. It was almost like a superstition. Afraid that if he got to close to it that his dreams would become a reality.

Sakura nuzzled her head into the pillow and he felt a slight twinge of envy at it. He rubbed his fingers on his cheek. She smiled at his touch while she sleep. Watching her like that, he felt his chest become warm and was suddenly content. Kneeling down by the bed side, he rested his arms and head on the bed, watching her peaceful face.

What as she dreaming? Not the sort of dreams he had, not with a face like that. The moon shone though the window touching her face and hair, giving them a simi-glow. She looked almost heavenly…

He leaned forward to whisper something into her ear, content that what he said wouldn't leave the room.

0o0o0o0o0

The first thing she noticed when she woke up the next morning was the smell of sandalwood and the feeling that someone was watching her. Opening her eyes, she was met with a pair of jade colored eyes. Gaara was watching her, his arms resting on the side of the bed that hid half his face, almost like a child would. It looked so adorable she couldn't but smile.

"Morning."

"Good Morning."

She rubbed the sleep from her eyes and realized the room she was in wasn't hers, but his. He had changed it a little since the time she had come to help unpack books. Unlike the rest of the apartment, it was just a solid tan color. There was a worn out rocking chair in one corner of the room with a book in the seat.

She frowned while looking around. How had she gotten here? The last thing she had remembered was sitting was Gaara in his living room and… there was a dim memory of her being moved and voice telling her to go back to sleep as she was being moved. He had picked her up and brought her in here to sleep, rather then the living room.  
"Have you been watching me all night?"

"Just for a few hours."

Her eyes widened. "Hours?"

His head tilted to one side slightly. "You're peaceful when you sleep." He said as if he hadn't heard her. One of his hands reached your to brush her bangs away from her face. The contact sent a pleasant shiver down her back and she was temped to take his hand and kiss it. Looking around again, she noticed how much light was coming from outside.  
"What time is it?"

"Half pass eight."

"Oh gezz…" She pushed the blankets off her and swung her legs over the edge of the bed. "I need to get back down stairs before my parents get home. They wouldn't be happy if they knew I was up here all night…"

Gaara looked puzzled. "We didn't do anything."

"Tell that to my mother. She wouldn't believe me… Where are my shoes?"

"By the door." Gaara stood up and followed her to the front door. He quietly watched her as she knelt down to tie her shoes, looking thoughtful. "Why would she be angry?"

"My parents are a little old fashion. I haven't really told them that… well… we're seeing each other. She thinks you and I have been studying together most of the time." She looked up and saw that he was frowning. "It's nothing about you… I just don't to expose you to them. After my last boyfriend…they're kind of protective."

Gaara's eyes narrowed slightly, but he didn't pursue the subject. "Is it ok if I walk you to your door?"

She smiled again. "Sure."

They stepped outside and stood outside her door. They paused and looked at each other for a moment.

"Do you know how to get to the ice rink? For when we all go?"

"No, but I have time to look it up."

Sakura nodded and opened her mouth to say something, but was interrupted.  
"Sakura, honey, what are you doing out here? And without and jacket…"

Sakrau and Gaara turned to look at her parents. Both of them looked tired, the father's eyes were halfway shut and he was rubbing his temples, clearly hung over.

"Ah… well…" Her mind started racing for some answer to come to mind. "Gaara… wanted to know if I could to go out today. It's a nice day out and everything. I was going to wait for you two to come back before going…"

"Ah. Well, don't forget your jacket. It's freezing outside. Do be home at a reasonable time." The mother said. Sakura reached over to open the door for them, cringing at the realized that she had left the apartment unlocked all night. She leaned in to grab her jacket off the arm chair before closing the door.

"Smooth." Gaara said sarcastically. "So, where are we going?"

0o0o0o0o0

"This isn't really what I had in mind…" Gaara said while looking at the empty ice rink.

"Well, you didn't have any better ideas." Sakura said while tying the laces to her skates.

"Besides… you might like it."

Gaara snorted before sitting down and putting on his own skates. Both of them didn't really know where to go… neither wanted to go to the movies, Sakura didn't think Gaara was one for shopping and most other places they could have gone to didn't open till later in the day. Not to mention that the ice park was free…

"It's pretty easy, just like rollerblading." Sakura said while standing up. She walked over to the ice and stepped carefully on the ice.

"What if I haven't roller bladed before?" Gaara was now on the edge of the ice rink, giving it a dirty look.

"Then be happy no one will be here to watch you fall down. Come on… I'll teach you." She held out her hand to him and waited.

Gaara put one foot on the ice and pushed off with the other. He wobbled a little before putting his other foot on the ice. Gritting his teeth, he fought the urge to hunch over. He tried to move his feet the same way she had, but wasn't able to move as fast or as far as she had.

"You're doing great." Sakura said as she took one of his hands and then the other. She started to skate backwards, leading him and helping to keep him steady at the same time. It took him a moment before he figured out how to move his feet, but he was slowly feeling more comfortable now with it. Sakura let go of his hands and skating in front of him backwards.

Just as he thought he was doing really well, his foot slipped and he fell forward. Cursing, he reached out for anything to keep him from falling and ended up latching onto Sakura. She wobbled for a moment, trying to hold both them up, but failed and they both tumbled onto the ice. Gaara moved to push himself up, but stopped.

Sakura shifted under him slightly, her legs were on either side of waist and her hands on his chest. One of her hands moved to rub the back of her head, which had hit the ice. She looked up at him and it wasn't till her face flushed that he realized he was still lying on top of her.

"Sorry." He muttered while pushing himself off her. He scooted a little bit away before making the attempt to stand. He had just managed to get back to his feet when she spook.

"Are you really?"

He turned to look at her, and regretted it as he lost his balance and fell again. This time landing soundly on his ass. He thought about trying to get up again, and ended up lying down on the ice, looking up at the clouds floating by. Sakura's head popped into his line of vision.

"You ok?"

"I think I bruised my tailbone… and my ego…" He looked up at her and saw that she was still waiting for an answer to her previous question. He looked away and sat up, winching as he put weight back on his damaged area. Gaara was rather grateful that they were doing this now instead of later on when more people would be around to watch this embarrassing show.

"No…" He said after a moment before trying to stand again. This time he was successful and was able to keep his balance. "I don't think I am too sorry about it."

"Spoken like a true man." He felt Sakura give the small of his back a push, causing him to slide forward, but he didn't fall over. He was able to do one and then two laps around the edge of the rink and was very confident during his third. He paused to step off the ice and sit down on one of the benches, watching Sakura as she did a few more loops before she joined him.

"It's good to see that you still have a few normal male habits." She said after while. Sakura was watching as a mother and her little toddler was skating on the ice, the mother holding the toddler's hands to keep her from falling. He turned to look at her, but she was still watching the two, looking thoughtful. When she looked up at him, he was still staring at her.

"I won't tell anyone." She said at last. "Not unless you want me to."

He frowned at her, not understanding.

"About last night… I won't tell."

"Ah…" he nodded, looking away. "Thank you." Her gloved hand moved over to his and he took it in his own. They both stared back at the mother and child, now being joined by the father. Gaara felt her give his hand a little squeeze.

"Let's go for a walk." He said after a long silence. "I don't think I am really meant to be on ice."

Sakura nodded and they both got up to turn their skates in. Sakura paid a little extra for two cups of hot chocolate. They held hands and walked around the park before dusting off a bench to sit on.

"Who is it that you're afraid will use that against you?"

"Sasuske Uchiha."

Sakura was silent for a moment. "Be careful with him. He… he doesn't stop till he gets what he wants."

Gaara turned to look at her, and saw her looking down into her empty cup. Her eyes looked hurt and a little bitter at the same time. "What did he do to you?"

Sakura moved to tuck a bit of hair behind her ears. "I used to be the Valvictorian for my year… I'm not anymore. I'm not even second running now. My parents were very disappointed with me." She turned to give him a brave smile. "But it doesn't matter though, right? I'll still be able to go to college, and it really counts there… not here." She looked back down at her hands. "It's just… it's a lot of time and effort… gone."

Gaara moved one of his arms to pull her closer.

"He wasn't always like this though. He use to be different. A few years ago… something happened and he changed. No one knows what it was, but he started to become power hungry. He had to be the best at everything… and now he is." She leaned into him, tucking her head under his chin. He kissed the top of her head and gave her shoulder a small squeeze.

"Let's not think about it."

0o0o0o0o0

"Hey! You made it!" Naruto said when he opened to door to his apartment. "We missed you at the ice park."

"Ice skating isn't really my thing." Gaara said as he walked inside. Taking a look around, he saw that he was the first to arrive.

"I wasn't expecting anyone for another hour, but that's ok. We changed the time when we are at the ice rink." Naruto took Gaara's coat and stuffed it into the small closet by the door.

Gaara followed Naruto has he lead him into the living room. It was a stander bachelor pad, cloths littered on the ground, a mountain of paper plates and puts on the coffee stable, or in Naruto's case, a large tower of ramen noodle cups on one end of the sofa. There was a large trash bag on one end of the coffee table, something Naruto had been using to clear some space off for his soon to arrive company. Naruto went back to scooping things into the trash bag and kicking the cloths into one corner of the room while Gaara looked around.

He noted a few framed pictures on wall. "Is this your dad?" Gaara asked while looking at a professional picture of Naruto and Iruka, both of them kneeling. He looked at the two faces, noted the huge difference between the two. One with dark skin, black hair and eyes. The other pale, blond hair and blue eyes. "You look more like you mom then?"

"I guess. I don't really know." Naruto said while tying the opening of the trash bag together and pulled out another one. "My parents left me on the front door of an orphanage. Iruka adopted me…" He paused to count on his fingers. "…almost seven years ago. He's a pretty cool dad though." He spoke as if he was reading something from a newspaper and not talking about his life. "I used to live in a foster home before that. It was ok…"

Dr. Hatake words suddenly popped back into his head.

_There are some traits in people that we look for without knowing it._

"I didn't like my foster home." Gaara said, looking back at the photo. "The woman had too many cats."

"Mine just had too many kids." Naruto joked. "There. That's better." Naruto put his hands on his hips while looking around at the now, mostly, clean living room. He walked into the kitchen and pulled an empty laundry basket out and started pile the clothes in it before hiding it in his room. He came back in, holding up something.

"Wanna play a game?" Naruto grinned. He tossed the case over to him and he caught it easily. Gaara blinked at the cover and looked back at Naruto.

"What's Tekken 3?"

"A manly game! Come on, I'll teach you how to play."

0o0o0o0o0

"We are not watching that." Nartuo said.

"Why not?" Sakura looked offended.

"Because it's the biggest girly movie of all time! Why would we," He waved his hand to his fellow male friends sitting on one side of the sectional sofa. "Want to watch it?"

"Oh, come on… It's has action in it."

"No, this has action." Naruto held up another DVD case. The other girls looked at it before a disgusted look spread on their faces.

"That's nothing but gun fights and boobs."

"So?"

The debate had been going on for a while, and Gaara was wondering if they were ever going to actually watch a movie. It didn't help that the personalities in the room were so different. Everyone had brought a few of their own movies to watch, with the exception of him. The only movies they had in their house belong his siblings and he didn't really think bring the Muppet show or his sister's drama shows would go far here.

"If I knew it was going to be this troublesome, I wouldn't have come…" Shikimaru said. His head was lolled back on the sofa and staring up at the ceiling.

Gaara reached forward and started to read the movie descriptions on the back and started to try and sort them by what he thought who would want to watch what.

"What about these ones? We can vote on it…" He said, pushing four movies in the middle of the coffee table. Everyone leaned in to see them better. A few moments later, a movie was finally selected and they were all settling in.

'This isn't so bad…' Gaara thought as he leaned back into the sofa.

0o0o0o0o0

The start of the school year was met with the universal groan from the students as they all dragged their feet up the stairs after the winter break. The teachers looked just as pleased as the students as the doors opened and everyone filed into the school

"Hi Sakura…"

Sakura cringed inwardly as she recognized the voice. She turned to see Karin and the rest of her little group with her. They were all smiling sweetly at her. Sakura's looked at all of them, this wasn't good.

"Hi guys." Sakura put on her sweetest smile. "How was your winter break?"  
(What the fuck do you want?)

"Oh, it was wonderful. You're such a dear for asking." Karin said.  
(Don't talk to me like that, cow.)

"That's good to hear."  
(Piss off.)

"Anyway, Sakura. We wanted to talk to you. Seeing how you use to be part of our little group, we wanted to let you know something." Karin said, using one finger to fiddle with her hair. "It's about that guy you are seeing."  
(I have some dirt on you're boyfriend and I'm going to tell everyone.)

At this point, Sakura realized how loud Karin had been talking. She also noticed how those around here were starting to listen in. Sakura pretended that one of her books slipped while trying to get a few more seconds to think of a reply.

I think that someone is going to use that information against me and I didn't want you to be blind sided by it.

"If it's about that locker incident, that's old news. Besides," she looked Karin straight in the eye. "I don't think that there is anything you know that I don't already."

"Sakura, don't be like that. We're here because we care about you."

If Sakura had been a cat, her fur would have puffed out and her back would have arched. "That's funny." Her voice didn't have that sugar coated sweetness to it anymore. "You didn't really seem to care too much for me last year, or the year before, or even the year before that. Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to get to class." Sakura moved to leave, but was stopped by a hand gripping her upper arm.

"Don't you walk away when I am talking to you." Karin's voice had turned into a deep snarl. Neither of them playing the silly game of friendliness now. Sakura turned to return the girls glare. Reaching over, Sakura used her free hand and wrapped it around Karin's wrist and started to squeeze. For a moment, nothing happened, but then Karin's face twisted into pain. She hissed and let go of Sakura who brushed off her arm.

Looking at the group of girls that were standing in her way, she gave them a good glare.

"Move."

And they did.

"You'll be sorry." Karin said after her. Sakura turned to look back at the other girl.  
"No, I won't. Now, why don't you go and follow Sasuke around like the good dog you are." Sakura watched as the other girls face went red with rage before turning and walking to her next class. Gaara was looking at her when she walked into class and took a seat next to her. He blinked as she put her text book on the desk with more force then she meant to.

"Why are you angry?"

"Politics." She said around gritted teeth. She took a breath to try and calm herself down. "Don't worry about it."

He frowned. "You sure?"

She managed to give him a small smile. "Positive."

* * *

Author Note:

Since the last chapter had been so emotional charged, I had wanted to tone it down a little in this one. I also wanted to work on the Naruto/Gaara relationship a little more. It needs a little more work, but it's a good start. The move choosing bit was a little gay, I admit, but I also wanted to show Gaara's ability to be able to step in and take care of problems, since he does that on a daily basis in the actual Naruto world.


	11. Chapter 3 Part 1

Disclaimer: Naruto does not belong to me. The story on the other hand, does. If you take it claim it as your own work, I will find you and tickle you to death. You've been warned.

* * *

Chapter Three, Part 1: Mid Finals

Things had been going very well since the winter break, despite the one episode with Karin. Most of the students seemed to have written of the graphite on Gaara's locker as a joke, although there were still a few that went out of their way to avoid him when they saw him. Not that he minded. He also seemed to have gotten taller as well. At the start of the school year Sakura and Gaara were the same height, but how she had to tilt her head up a little bit to meet his eyes. She hadn't noticed till one day she's seen him scorning at the cuff off of his pants, which exposed a little bit of his ankle to the cold weather.

Along with the New Year came something that all students dreaded. Mid term finals. It was something new to Gaara, and it was a huge change of pace to see people studying together or students walking around with cue cards in their hands.

"Don't they study during the whole year?" He had asked one morning.

"No," Sakura scoffed. "They all wait till the last minute and cram it all into their brains like Naruto does." As if to prove her point, she pointed a finger at the said person who was chewing on the end of a pencil while reading a text book.

"To each his own I suppose." Gaara said

"Speaking of studying, would you like to study after school today? We can go over some of the things from the start of the year."

"It wouldn't hurt. Might as bring him with us. I think he'll need it more then us." Gaara said, pointing back at Naruto.

0o0o0o0o0

"So… how do you play?" It was the weekend before exam week and Gaara found himself out at the park with Naruto. The yellow haired youth was pouncing a soccer ball on his head, to his foot, and then to his head again.

"Pleeeeaaassseeee…" Naruto had asked "If I study anymore my head is going to explode. Come out and play some soccer with me."

"I don't know how to play." Gaara protested, but one of his hands was reaching for his jacket that was lying on the sofa.

"We'll just kick the ball around. Come on, please?"

"So, you can touch the ball with any part of your body, except your arms and hands." Naruto said, pouncing the ball from his chest to his foot and then on top of his head again before letting it fall to the ground and putting his foot on top of it so it wouldn't go anywhere. Gaara breathed some warm air on his hands while watching.

"Didn't they teach you how to play in grade school?" Naruto asked while tapping the ball lightly with foot, sending it over to Gaara. He wasn't able to stop it as neatly as he'd seen Naruto do.

"No, I was one of the kids that preferred to play in the sand box." Gaara kicked the ball back and took a few steps back to expand the distance from each other.

"Ah, I was a swinger myself." Naruto kicked the ball back, taking a few steps back as well. He kicked the ball to the left, causing Gaara to run after it. "But I love this game."  
They kicked the ball back and forth for a few more moments before Naruto spoke again. "So how do you remember all this stuff anyway?"

"I study at night. I don't have anything else to do." Gaara kicked the ball high and watched as Naruto did a jump to hit it with his head.

"What? Like all night?"

"Pretty much."

"Ohhh… that's why you're eyes are so dark…"

"It's a birth mark." Gaara said a little irritably, kicking the ball a litter harder then he meant to.

"Right right… go long!"

They ended up being out longer, and more sweaty, then Gaara thought they would have been. What had been a simple pass game had turned into a one-on-one match. Even though Gaara tried his best to keep up with him, he ended up losing horribly to Naruto. Before they headed back, they were laying on the ground together looking up at the sky.

"What are you going to do when you get out of school?" Gaara asked.

"I want to go to Serie A…"

"What that?"

Naruto laughed. "It's the best soccer league in Italy."

Gaara frowned while looking at his friend. "Why?"

Naruto looked back over at him. "No one can ignore me when I am world's best soccer team, can they?"

Gaara nodded, more to himself then to Naruto. "If you make it, I'll make sure watch your games."

"Really?" Naruto looked hopeful.

"Yeah."

Naruto grinned at him and held out one hand with a pinky held out. The corner's of Gaara's mouth turned up a little at it and hooked his own pinky around Naruto's. Pinky promise. Not that Gaara didn't mean what he said. If, no when, Naruto made it, he would watch his games. Even if he had to take time off work or stay up late to do it. It was the least Gaara could do.

When they got back to the apartment complex, they waved before heading off to their separate buildings. Naruto wanted to go to Serie A, Sakura wanted to be a doctor… what did he want to do? He had said that he wanted to do something useful with his life, but he still didn't have any idea of what it was that he really wanted to do.

'It'll come to me later.'

0o0o0o0o0

Gaara put his pencil down and looked around at the other bowed heads of the students  
'Does it really take a week to do this?' He wondered while taking his test up to the teacher.

"You're finished already?" The man said, looking up in surprise at him.

"Yes. Do I have to stay, or can I go?"

Gaara watched his teacher as the man flipped the pages to make sure he had answered all the questions before writing him a pass to the library. He took a look over at Sakura and saw that she was on the last few pages. She would be joining him soon enough.

Walking down the hall of the school was almost like walking around in a ghost town. He kept expecting to see someone or hear some chatter in one of the classrooms. The school library wasn't really any better. He showed his pass to the scowling woman working there before walking around the vacant area. He found himself in front of case that held the past school year books. He pulled out the books for the last four years and brought them over to a table.

He opened the first one and started flicking through the pages. He passed the section with that years graduating class and went to the Freshman section and scanned the pictures there. He looked at three pages before finding a face he recognized.

Her hair was longer in this picture and she was wearing a ribbon in her hair rather then her current headband. His lips turned up a little at bright hopeful look in her eyes. Gaara looked at the picture for a few more moments before looking at the other pictures. He spotted a few of Naruto's friends before actually finding Naruto himself. Rather then the nice smile photo that the rest of the students had, Naruto had painted his face, looking like one of his brother's samurai puppets.

Turning the page, he started moving into club photos. His eyes merely moved over the photos, not really taking in the names or comments at the bottom of the photos. He was about to close that book, when one picture made him stop.

The captions at the photo said "Friendship Festival – success!" but it was who was in the picture that caught his interests. It was a shot of the torso up, with Naruto in the center of the picture with an arm around two others. Sakura and Sasuke. Sakura had her happy bright smile while the other was smirking at the camera.

Closing the book, he reached for the next one and started looking through that one, this time knowing what he was looking for. It was at that the start of the sophomore section when he found the first picture. There were four teenagers in the picture standing on the steps leading up to the school. His eyes moved down to the caption.

'Sophomore Preseident – Sasuke Uchiha, Vice President – Sakura Houra, Secretary – Kirin, and Treasure---

A few pages later, there was a shot of Sasuke and Naruto playing soccer together. He leaned onto the table, studying the pictures more carefully.

'So they use to be friends. Close friends?'

He reached over for the last book. This book was different. There weren't any pictures of them together… and they all looked a little different. Sasuke was looking more as how Gaara had seen him this year. That air aloofness was very evident along with the current group of people he was hanging out with. Naruto and Sakura seemed a little… he didn't want to say sad. They were still smiling and laughing, but it didn't seem as vibrant in the other pictures he had seen. Sakura in particular.

He slowly closed the book and stacked them neatly on top of each other. Sitting back in his chair, Gaara laced his fingers behind his head and looked up at the florescent lights above him.

The sound of a chair being moved made him look across the table. He was expecting Sakura… but…

"Hi there." Karin said, fluttering her lashes at him. "What brings a guy like you here?"  
Gaara eyes shifted from the left and then right. She had come alone. "I like books."

"Really? What kind of books?"

"What do you want?"

He saw her frown. Karin crossed her arms and sat back in her chair. "Why do you have to be that way?"

"Because I find it hard to believe that you would come and talk to me just because you were interested in what I was doing."

"But it's my job to know what you're doing." She gave him a grin that he didn't care too much for.

"Does Sasuke always send his whores to do the talking for him?"

"You should know. You're dating one."

The amount of willpower it took Gaara to keep him from reaching over and punching her in the middle of the face was amazing. He gritted his teeth instead and glared at her. She shifted in her chair a little.

"Look, you can make it easier on yourself."

"You can go away."

Karin looked offended. "Fine." She got up and he watched her walk out the library.  
He sat there for a few more moments before taking the year books and putting them back. Sitting back down at the table, he pulled out one of his textbooks, but try as he might, he couldn't get past the one page.

0o0o0o0o0

"You ok?" Gaara asked at the end of the week, Naruto stumbling next to him.

"My brain feels like mush." He said shakily. "At least I won't have to do it till the end of the school year. But there is a good side to all this…" He said, rolling one of his shoulders.

"What's that?"

Naruto gave him a big grin and wrapped an arm around his neck. "We get to party!"

Gaara raised his non-existed eyebrows. "At your place?"

"Ah, no. I tried that last year and the land lord got on our ass about it. I am thinking about a club somewhere. I know one that allows kids our age… Anyhow, I'm going to pass the word. Tell Sakura we're going to Shakes, she'll know how to get there."

Gaara watched as his friend ran off down the stairs. "Shakes?"

0o0o0o0o0

'Why do I suddenly feel like I am going to the home coming again?' Gaara thought as he knocked on Sakura's door. There was some noise on the other end; he could make out Sakura's voice and what sounded like her mother. The door opened and Gaara saw a pale middle aged man with green eyes. He almost looked like what Gaara thought a baker should look like.

'Must be her dad.' Gaara thought while they stared at each for a moment. He saw the older man take in his appearance, from his t-shirt with the fishnet sleeves to his pants a boots. "Is Sakura in?"

"She's getting ready. Would you like to come in?"

"Sure."

Stepping inside, Gaara realized that he done the very thing Sakura didn't want him to do. It was too late now, and truth be told, he didn't see what the problem was. He was rather curious about her family. The inside of their apartment was very different from his own, it was also clear that the mother did the decoration here. Décor plate hung from the wall and there was a paper rose border at the top of the wall.

"So…" Sakura's father sat in a chair in the dinning area. He gestured his hand for Gaara to sit in the other one. "You're the boy that moved in upstairs last summer. Sakura says you very bright."

"She very kind." Gaara could hear mother and daughter arguing about something she was wearing.

"She can and can't be. She seems rather fond of you." He had a look on his face and Gaara had the sudden thought that Sakura got her intelligence from him and looks from her mother. There was a look in his eyes that he had seen Sakura have when she was thinking about something. Only in this case, Gaara had a pretty good feeling he knew what the man was thinking about.

"Can I ask you a direct question? I'd ask Sakura, but she won't give me a straight answer."

"Sure."

"Are you two seeing each other?"

"… Yes."

"Ah." The older man said, tapping to his pointer finger and index fingers on the table twice. "I thought so. Don't tell her mother, she'll start wanting you here for dinner."  
Gaara blinked. "Is that bad?"

"Well, I don't mind you being here, but my wife is a horrible cook…" he stopped at the sudden sound of foot steps coming down the hall.

"I didn't know you were here. Have you been waiting long?" Sakura said, straightening the skirt that had been the subject of the argument. It was very… short, but Gaara could at least admire the view it gave.

"Not too long. We were just bonding as men." Sakura's father said. He stood up and went to his jacket that was hanging on a rack near the door. He fished around in the pockets and pulled something out. "I am going to say you are a better driver the Naruto." He said while looking back at Gaara.

"Much."

"Good." Sakura's father tossed him the object he'd been holding. Gaara caught it and looked at the keys in his hand. "Don't crash in to anything. Now off with you."  
"Thanks dad." Sakura said, kissing the older man on the cheek. Gaara got up and followed her out the door. He followed down the stairs and into the parking lot. "He must have really liked you to let you borrow the car."

0o0o0o0o0o0

"Turn here."

"What kind of place is this anyway?" Gaara asked as he turned the wheel.

"Just a dance club."

"…. You know I can't dance, right?"

"It's easy, I'll teach you. If makes you feel any better Naruto can't dance either."

"No, that doesn't make me feel better." Gaara turned the car off and got out. He waited for Sakura before locking the car and walking besides her. He could hear the music already from where he was and knew that his ears would be ringing by the time he left.  
"Hey, there's Ino. Ino!" Sakura called out. Ino turned and waved back. Sai turned and waved to them as well. They were both in a matching outfits of some kind of black/blue pattern. Ino beckoned them over with her hand.

"We got something for you." Ino said to Gaara, pointing her finger from her to Sai and back to her. "We saw it in the thrift store and we both thought of you."

"How did you know I was going to be here."

"Naruto said you would. Anyway, here." Ino help up the thing she had been holding and handed it too him.

Gaara took it and looked it. "You got me a hat?"

"It's a boller hat. We thought you would look really good in it." Ino took it from his hand and placed it on top of his head.

"I feel silly…"

"It actually looks kind of cute." Sakura said while standing up on tip toes to adjust it a little. Gaara only grunted with every intention of taking it off as soon as he got inside.  
It was easy to find Naruto once he was inside, even with him in the middle of a group, his bright yellow hair was a give away. Although Gaara couldn't understand what kind of dancing they were doing. All the group was doing was jumping up and down. Before Gaara could think about it anymore, Sakura took his arm and lead him to a table in a corner with some of the people that he remembered from the Winter break. They all waved and exchanged pleasantries with each other by the time Naruto came over.

"Whatcha think?"

"It's loud." Gaara had to shout to be heard over the music.

"You'll get use to it. I'm getting drinks, who wants what?" Naruto took a quick tally before going over to the bar. Jucie bar, Gaara had to remind himself. It was hard imagine someone would build a place like this for high schoolers, but it was better then them on the street, as his sister would say. Gaara watched as Sakura went with Ino and Hinata to dance while he sat with the other guys.

He took his hat off and put it in the middle of the table and leaned back in his chair to watch. Naruto returned with the drinks before running off to the dance floor to twirl Hinata around and dip her. Gaara wondered if he should do the same, but knew he would make a complete fool of himself if he did. Instead, he preoccupied himself with drinking his water and trying to enjoy himself.

Course, as luck would have it, he couldn't do that. The music changed tempo to something slower and before he could blink, Sakura was at his side. "Come on, let's dance."

"I can't dance…" Gaara protested.

Not listening to him, Sakura pulled him in the middle of the room. Turning she placed his hands on her hips and wrapped her arms around her neck.

"See? It's easy." Sakura murmured into his ear.

Gaara nodded mutely, letting her lead the dance.

This wasn't so bad…

* * *

Author Note:

Don't have a note for this chapter. Grammar and misspellings will be fixed when story is complete.


	12. Chapter 3 Part 2

Disclaimer: Naruto does not belong to me. The story on the other hand, does. If you take it claim it as your own work, I will find you and tickle you to death. You've been warned.

* * *

Chapter 3, Part 2: Fight and make up

"Isn't that just cute?" Suigetsu leaned over the back of his cushioned chair to see the dancing couple. The other people at the table with him turned to take a look as well. "He didn't have that hard of a time taking your place… did he, Sasuke?"

The latter glared from his seat at the other youth and then at the pair on the dance floor. "Yes… very cute."

"Ahh… you're up to something." Suigetsu said while shaking a finger at him. "Come on… share the details."

"I was just thinking about the weatherman." Sasuke said, leaning back into his chair.

"The weather man?"

"Un… he said there was going to be a big storm tonight… it be shame if their car didn't work." He reached for his jacket and stood up. "Let's go. This place is boring." Sasuke started to walk out, his small group going with him. Sasuke looked back at the dancing couple at the same time Gaara lifted his head up. Their eyes locked for a moment, and Sasuke gave him a little grin. The latter frowned and watched him till he had gone out the front entrance.

0o0o0o0o0

"Eh? Where are you two going?" Sakura asked. It was later in the night and people were slowly starting to leave. Normally Naruto was the last one out, but he was leaving with an arm around Hinata's waist.

"We thought we would go and get something to eat…" Naruto said sheepishly.

"Want company?"

The look on Naruto's face indicated that he did not want company and was currently trying to figure out a why to say so without actually stating what his objective was. Gaara smiled into his cup before wrapping an arm around Sakura and bringing her attention to him.

"Let them go. I don't feel much like eating ramen tonight."

Naruto sent a 'thank you' gesture to him before he and Hinata made a quick exit. He wasn't sure what time it was when they finally left, but the manager was shooing the younger people out just as an older club was starting to come in.

"What did you think?" Sakura asked as they walked out into the parking lot. Her arm was warped around his and he was feeling very content at that moment.

"It was alright… I think I would rather be somewhere quieter though."

"And less dancing?" she teased.

"That too."

"Maybe I can teach you…" Sakura stopped talking and walking. Gaara looked at her in confusion before looking at what she was seeing. He felt his stomach twist when he did.

"I can't believe this…" Sakura moaned and moved to examine the car. All the tires on the vehicle had been slashed, and while there was a spare tire in the trunk, they were still going to need three more wheels. And just to add insult to injury, someone had keyed 'With love' on the drivers side of the car. "Go figure this would happen the one time dad gave me the car…"

"Come on." Gaara said, grabbing her hand. "We'll need to find somewhere with a phone."

They went back to the club, but where dined entrance. The rest of the stores along the road where closed and neither of them could see a payphone anywhere.

"I saw a place down the street from here. I think it's an Inn. We should be able to walk there and use a phone." Sakura said.

"We don't have much of a choice. Let's go."

There was an ominous sound of thunder overhead that told them that they had better hurry before the skies opened. They walked a little faster, but Gaara knew that they wouldn't be able to make it anywhere before the rain feel. It was all a matter of how long they were going to be out in it at this point.

"I still can't believe someone would do that." Sakura muttered as they walked.

"I can…" He remembered the grin Sasuke had given him back at the club.

"Still, it's really immature."

Gaara snorted. "Sasuke seems to be immature like that."

"Sasuke isn't immature." Sakura protested.

Gaara stopped and looked at her. Did she just defend him? She looked guilty like a child caught with their hand in the cookie jar. "I used to hang out with him a lot, remember? I don't ever remember him being immature."

"No, he only ruined your chance at being valcictorian. Not immature at all." Gaara crossed his arms while looking at her.

"Don't be like that." She said, which only shocked him further.

"Why are you defending him?" The reason of it was beyond him. He thought that she didn't like Sasuke. She didn't seem to before now.

"I'm not defending him…" Sakura said lamely. "It's just… he isn't that bad…"

Suddenly the words that Karin had said to him took on a different meaning all together.

"_You should know. You're dating one."_

All the little unanswered questions were suddenly having answers in his head. A few of the pictures that he had seen with the three of them together, that adoration in her eyes when she had look at him in them. A part of his mind was easily able to picture her as the leader of the little female wolf pack Sasuke kept. Too easily.

"You went out with him, didn't you?" A part of him couldn't believe it, but it made perfect sense.

"What?"

"You… and Sasuke… you two went out, didn't you?"

Her eyes went wide before turning her head away from him, confirming his suspension. He was baffled. How could… why wouldn't… was there some reason she felt that she didn't need to tell him this one important detail?

Gaara snapped. "Why couldn't you tell me? Why did I have to find out on my own? Like this?"

"I didn't think it was important."

Gaara only gritted his teeth. Was it important? He wasn't sure, but it bothered him. It bothered him a lot. The glared at each other a bit longer as another thunder clap sounded over head, followed by rain. It wasn't small drops, but large thick ones. Within minutes they were both drenched and still glaring at each other.

"So what?!" She yelled at him over the rain. "So what if I was one of those girls that followed him around? So what if I dated him?! I'm not now! He only used me to get what he wanted, and he got it! It shouldn't matter!"

"It doesn't matter?! It matters because he is trying to destroy me! You saw what he did to my locker and the car. Don't you understand?" Gaara found himself panting, as if he had been running for a long time. He wanted to be anywhere but there at that moment. He'd even rather be back in his padded room then fighting with her like this. The two of them glared at each other a moment longer before he turned to walk off.

"Where are you going?" Sakura called out, sounding a little panicked.

"Out of the rain. Feel free to join me."

0o0o0o0o0

When they walked into the hotel area, they looked like a pair of drowned rats. Sakura stood in the overhead area and wringed her hair out while Gaara went inside.

"Do you have a phone we can barrow?" Gaara pushed his hair out of his face, while the attendant looked at him from her magazine.

"I do, but it's not for personnel calls."

"It's not a personnel call. Our car…"

"Don't care." The woman said, turning the page on her magazine. "We have phones in the rooms though, if you are interested in staying."

Gaara glared at her for a moment before reaching into his back pocket. This night was just as fun as stepping on a rusted nail. "How much for two rooms for the night?"

Sakura looked puzzled when he came back outside with two keys. "What happened?"  
"Can't use a phone unless we are staying for the night… so… we're staying. Come on."

He didn't say anything more to her as they walked to their respected rooms, which happened to next to each other. Sakura opened her mouth to say something, but he walked into his room and closed the door behind him before she could. The loud 'click' of the lock seemed to final. So what if he was being immature. He felt like he had a fair enough reason to be.

The room wasn't very big, but it was enough. There was a phone on the night stand, but more importantly, there was a bathroom that he could warm up in. He noticed the door on one wall the connected it to the room next door. Sakura's room. He could hear her moving around on the other side before picking up the sounds of a shower. Tossing his keys and wallet on the night stand, he picked up the phone and dialed. It rang a few times before a groggy voice answer.

"Hello?"

"I'm stuck."

"You're stuck?" Kankuro yawned.

"Someone slashed the tires on car. We'll need to get it towed. We'll probably have to help to pay for the new tires..."

"Naturally. Where are you right now?"

"In a hotel by the 10."

"Hmmm… I'd come and get you, but Temari has the car and she's on a date." He drew the last word out as if it was something naughty.

This night was just full of surprised… "Really? With who?"

"No clue. Some guy in her night class. She mentioned it as she went out the door. I am feeling a little left out here. I'll need to go and get myself a girlfriend."

"You can always make a puppet and pretend."

"Haha… no. Those are called blowup doll and that's a type of I don't think I can bring myself to. Anyway, hang tight. We'll come out and get you in the morning. What's the address?"

Gaara gave the address and exchanged a few more pleasantries before placing the phone back on the receiver. Grumbling, he went into the bathroom. Taking off his cloths, he hung them on the hook by the door before hopping in the shower and turning on the water as high as it would go. Sighing in relief as he started to warm up, he pressed his forehead on cool tiles.

A part of him hoped the car would still be there when they went back for it in the morning. Although it didn't seem much like Sasuke's style to go that as far. All he had probably tried to do was ruin a night he had been enjoying.

And he had been enjoying himself tonight.

Up until they went outside anyway. Despite the loud music and his inability to dance, it was nice to be with his… friends' outside a school. More then anything, he had enjoyed being with Sakura and watching her dance. The view her skirt had given him, the way she moved and then how she had moved against him…

His hand reached down at the shower knob and turned it from hot to cold. He shivered at the sudden change, but at least his body was… well… Turning the shower off, he reached for a towel and started to dry himself before wrapping it around his waist. He was supposed to be angry at her, not thinking about her like this. Sighing, he took his soaked cloths, wring them over the bathtub before hanging them over the shower rack. He made a silent prayer that they'd be dry by morning before going to sit on the bed.

'So they went out… and broke up. It's not like they are seeing each other now.'  
An image of her face, looking shocked and hurt popped into his mind. He didn't feel good knowing that he had caused it.

'She should have said something.' The stubborn part of his mind said. He'd been honest with her, why couldn't she do the same? Or did she really think that it wasn't that important?

He looked around and reached for the remote and turned on the small TV on the dresser. He was flipping though channels when there was a knock on the door. Frowning he looked out the window to see who it was, but realized that the knocking sound was actually coming from the other door.

Frowning again, he unlocked the door and opened it up a crack. One of Sakura's emerald eyes peeked back at him.

"Can we talk?"

"I'm not really dressed for it." He said coolly.

She stared at him for a moment and it dawned on him that she probably wasn't going to take no for an answer. Sighing, he opened the door all the way. Unlike his room, her's had a robe that she could wear which she had closed tightly around herself. He watched as her eyes flicked over his chest, not so much as looking at him, but the few scares that littered his body. Gaara felt exposed and wanted to wrap himself up in the bed sheet or get back in his wet cloths.

Sakura walked in, dragging the chair from her room behind her. Gaara took his own seat and wished he had left his cloths on.

"It's true…" She said slowly. "I did date Sasuke for while."

"I think we established that."

"Will you let me finish?" She snapped back. He crossed his arms again and leaned back in his chair.

She looked down at her hands. "I use to look up to him when I was younger. I mean… really look up to him. He was good at everything. School, sports and just about everything else. I would have done anything for him, and I did my best to get his attention… I tried really hard at school, I even joined a club he was in at the time. As shallow as it seems… I even became friends with Naruto, someone that Sasuke hung out with."

She paused, seeming to be lost in thought.

"I would have done anything for him… and I thought I understood him. But without knowing it, I had become a threat to him. He knew very well what he had to do to take are of me. He and I dated for a few months and then…"

"Don't fool yourself into thinking I like you. You're ugly and annoying."

"… we broke up. Or rather, he did. I was really heart broken, and my studies showed it. Then all the people I thought were my friends turned on me. I didn't have anyone… except for Ino and Naruto. Naruto became really upset with Sasuke about it and stopped being his friend. Ino told me later that Naruto had had a crush on me for the longest time and was disgusted with what Sasuke did."

"So…" She looked up at him. "That's what happened. I don't like him like that anymore… but it's hard to stop thinking about someone like that when you've been doing it for years. I.. I didn't mean to hide anything from you. It's just a little painful for me." Sakura looked up at him hopefully only to see his frowning face as he stared at the floor; thinking.

"I'll go then… I just… wanted to let you know." She got up to leave and was almost at the door when his voice stopped her.

"Wait."

She watched as he got up and walked over to her. Taking her by surprise, he pulled her into a bear hug.

"I'm sorry…" He said into her hair. "I said I trusted you, but I didn't act like it." He sighed and hugged her a little closer. "Just stay with me…"

"I can do that." She smiled and nuzzled against him. She wrapped her arms around him and they both remembered their lack of clothing, or rather his. Awkwardly he moved away, but she held on to him. A little startled, he stared at her. Sakura tilted her head to the side, her eyes moving softly over his face before standing on her tip toes to give him a kiss.

Gaara's eyes widened before closing and returning her kiss. He wrapped his own arms around her and lost himself in the sensation kissing her. It was when she ran her hands down his back that caused him to pull away.

"We should stop…" He said half-heartedly.

Sakura looked back up at him, her green eyes determined. "I don't want to."  
Gaara felt his chest rumble with laughter, although he wasn't sure why he thought it was so funny. When she kissed the hollow area where his collarbones met, he felt a small jolt. Her hands were running over his chest, spending more time where he had scars, a gift from his father. He watched as she move to each one and kiss them, even moving to his back to tend to the ones there.

He gasped when she dragged one of her fingers down his back. Grabbing on of her hands, he pulled her in front of him so he could kiss her again. His arms wrapped around her, pressing her tightly against him as he kissed her passionately. He took a few steps forward until they were at the bed where he stopped to lay her down.

"Are you sure?"

One of his hands was at her slash while hers where at the towel around his waist.

"Positive."

She was kissing his neck as he finally undid her robe and started to explore her with his hands.

"You're beautiful…" he murmured into her neck before moving down to explore her body with his mouth as well as his hands. He smiled to himself as he lightly bit her neck, making her gasp, before moving down to graze her shoulder, tasting her collarbone as he went. Gaara moved down farther and started to explore her breast with his mouth. Sakura moaned and shifted under him, her fingers buried into his hair, holding him close.

One of hands moved down her stomach and down farther till his fingers touched her, causing her back to arch. She protested slightly at his inexperienced touch and one of her hands moved over his, silently showing him how she liked to be touched. Not too long later her head was lolled back on pillow, her hips jerking as his fingers slid over her.  
Gaara gasped as her fingers wrapped around him and squeezed. He rested his head against her breastbone and moaned as her hands slowly moved up and down his length. She murmured something to him, sending a small shiver up his spine, and he moved himself up to kiss her again. He loved the feeling on her thighs as the rubbed his hip bone, her feet lightly rubbing his caves.

He didn't argue when she grabbed him guided him to her, and her body was very welcoming to him. The first few moments were awkward, but he was able to find a pace that suited both of them. They rocked together with her arms on his back and face buried in her neck. She whispered adoration to him, interrupted by her moans, and started mover her hands over him. He felt his head swim as he enjoy the feel of her, the feel of her body moving against his and that wonderful, wonderful, way she was wrapped around him. Hot, wet and tight… he didn't want to stop.

They had both lost track of time, lost in the feeling of making love to each other when she cried out and her body buckled against his. He stared at her widened, not believing that he had actually… but before he could finish the thought his own body reacted, caused by the muscled rhythmically squeezing him. Gaara let out a long low moan, muffled by her neck.

Sighing happily, she nuzzled the side of his face as he settled against her. He had no intention of removing himself from her and she didn't seem to mind. They panted softly while he kissed her face, neck shoulders… anything he could reach. Slowly she slid a hand down his spin, casing him to shiver.

"Careful…" he said, kissing a small trail down her neck and to her shoulder. "You'll start something."

0o0o0o0o0

She woke again to that feeling of being watched and something rubbing her side. Opening her eyes, she wasn't surprised to see a pair of jade eyes staring back at her. His hand was moving slowly up and down side is slow rhythmic motion.

"Don't you ever sleep?" She asked in good humor, leaning forward to give him a kiss. He grunted in response and returned her kiss. "What time is it?" She turned to look at the light peeking out from the current.

"Early. We'll have to check out soon."

"Think you can get some money back for not using both rooms?"

He chuckled. "Probably not."

She nuzzled his face again before turning over and reaching for her robe. He watched her leave the room and go back into hers before getting up himself and getting his cloths. To his amazement, his clothing was actually dry. Donning on his underwear and pants, he grabbed his shirt and walked into Sakura's room.

Leaning on the door frame, he watched as put her on cloths on, a single word chanting in his head while he did so. She noticed his stare and blushed.

"Perv."

A small smiled touched his lips and he walked over to her. Grabbing her hips, he brought her flush against him and lowered his mouth to her ear to say the word he had been thinking.

"Mine."

* * *

Author Note:

Thanks to this chapter, I had to change the rating for the fic. So smutty…


	13. Chapter 3 Part 3

Disclaimer: Naruto does not belong to me. The story on the other hand, does. If you take it claim it as your own work, I will find you and tickle you to death. You've been warned.

* * *

Chapter 3, Part 3: New Changes

"And that…" Kankuro sat back on his heels. "Is how you change a tire. Or four of them in this case." He wiped his hands on his pants and looked over at Gaara. "Think you can remember all that?"

Gaara nodded and pushed the leaver on the jack and watched at the car slowly touched the ground. They had spent the better part of the morning getting replacement tires and then the afternoon replacing them all. Getting the car back to the apartment complex had been entertaining, seeing how the man toeing insisted that they take it to a garage and "let the professionals take care of it." Kankuro had been insisted that they bring back home and let him take care of it.

"The day I can't change a tire is the day I stop being a man. Hand me that jack." Had been his words before pushing up the sleeves on his shirt.

And they had done just that. Thanks to Kankuro's experience with a part time job he used to have, they were able to replace all the tires fairly quickly. The destroyed tires lay some ways away close to the stares. Once Mr. Haruno had come down to see how the progress was doing, but hadn't really stayed for conversation. It worried Gaara a little. He didn't want to fallen out of his good opinion already just because someone had slashed the tires on his car. It wasn't really his thought though, right?

"Are you alright?" Kankuro leaned closer to his brother. "You've been getting this spaced out look on your face all day."

"Have I?" Gaara didn't think he was spacing out. He had been paying attention… except those times when his mind drifted off back to the other night. Her voice in his ear, hands on his back…

"You're doing it again."

Gaara mentally kicked himself. "Sorry."

"Did you two get into a fight?"

"Eh?"

"Well, you two didn't say anything when I picked up and haven't done so since she went upstairs."

The reason for the latter was that Gaara didn't want to knock on the door and risk seeing the wrath of her parents. He wasn't sure how they felt about the car, but was pretty sure that the mother wasn't happy. If the yelling though the floor boards was any indication. He planed to go and knock on the door once the car was fixed, almost like bringing a peace offering gift.

Gaara noticed that his brother was still looking at him, waiting for an answer. "Well, kind of, but we worked it out."

Kankuro leaned in again… leaned in too close.

"What?" Gaara narrowed his eyes in annoyance.

Kankuro examined him for a moment longer before a smug look appeared on his face and pulled back.

"What?" Gaara asked again.

"My little brother's growing up so fast."

"All you did was teach me how to change a tire."

"I'm not talking about the tires." Kankuro gave his little brother a nudge and stood up.

"Come on. Help me take these flats to the junk yard. If we're lucky, we'll be back before dinner time."

The following Monday he was there. Leaning against his spot on the wall and waiting for her. Sakura smiled at him and closed the door behind her.

"They're not angry, are they?"

"No." Sakura readjusted the strap on her backpack. "You fixed the car and it didn't cost dad anything. Wheels haven't fallen off, so he is fairly content."

Gaara followed her as she started to make her way down the stairs. "You're mom didn't seem too happy."

"She gets a little hysterical at times. She was angrier about the fact I didn't call that night then the state of the car." She changed her voice so it sounded more like her mother. "Do you know how worried I was? I almost called the police! Look at this! You see this grey hair? It's new and it's because of you!"

Gaara chuckled. "I hope you don't get like that when you're older."

"Why? You're going to stick around that long?" She teased.

"I might."

By this time they had reached the bottom of the stairs and she turned to look back at him. "You mean that?" She was watching him closely, her eyes a little hopeful.

He smiled and leaned down to give her a soft kiss before taking her hand and walking to the bus stop. They enjoyed the comfortable silence as they walked, each in their own thought till the came to the bus stop and a strange scene. Tilting his head to the side slightly, Gaara wasn't sure what so strange about it till Sakura said something.

"Eat you're ramen already?"

That's right. The morning cup of ramen was missing. Naruto also had a strange look on his face and turned to look at them as if he was still half asleep. It took him a moment before he broke out in his normal grin.

"Morning! Have a good weekend?"

Naruto started to daze off once again when they had finished their morning chatter. His eyes seemed to gloss over slightly and a tiny smile touched his face. It took Gaara a moment before he recognized the spaced out look that had dominated his own features for the last two days. He gave Nartuo a type of "congrats" pat on the back. The other youth looked at him for a moment before he too realized and they both broke out in identical grins.

"What is so funny?" Sakura eyed them.

"Super secret squirrel guy stuff." Naruto said, trying to suppress his grin.

Sakura huffed and crossed her arms. "Men." Gaara and Naruto looked her for moment, at each other, and started to laugh. Or in Gaara's case, quietly chuckled.

0o0o0o0o0

He was touching her at school now, nothing indecent, but in subtle ways. Lightly holding her hand when they walked down the hall, or a hand on the small of her back when going up the stairs, his knee against hers when they were eating lunch. It took her awhile to realize that he was merely keeping within the school's PDA code and entertained herself with thoughts of what he would do if there weren't such rules.

Their relationship had changed. Before it was something soft and almost shy, getting use to each other, but now it gone to a physical level. His frequent touching of her seemed to prove it. The first showers of spring happened as Sakura and Gaara slowly explored this new aspect of their relationship. It was interesting for the most part.

With the changing weather, came the shedding of Gaara's 'winter fur.' He started wearing a hoddie in the morning along with his normal pants and shirt, his fish net sleeves poking out under the heavy cotton garment. With this change came a new time of grumbling from him. Instead of complaing about the cold, he was not complaining about the rain.

"You just like to complain about the weather." Sakura had said while they were standing under his umbrella one morning.

"I just don't like being cold… or wet…"

"I can't say I like it either." Naruto chimed in, huddling close on the other side of Gaara. It was a comedic scene, since Gaara's umbrella was really only big enough for himself and maybe one other. They were squished together like lunch meat.

"Don't you own an umbrella?" Sakura said, leaning forward to glare at him.

"And miss this wonderful bonding time?" Naruto mock snuggled Gaara. "Never!"

"I'm starting to feel a little uncomfortable with this... 'bonding.'" Gaara muttered, trying to lean away from Naruto.

0o0o0o0o0

"It's been a while, hasn't it?" Dr. Hatake said with a smile. "You're looking better."

"Am I?" Gaara didn't think he had ever come here looking other then normal.

"Well, you don't have that look of 'I wish I was anywhere but here' like you normally do."

Gaara sat his chair. "Well… you don't poke and prod like the others did."

"Thank you." He actually sounded pleased. "So, how have things been going?"

What a question… Gaara thought back to the last time he had come in and started to relay all the events that had happened since his last visits. Looking back on it… it was a lot. It felt like ages since he'd last come, not two months. Still not sleeping, the locker incident, the winter break the tires on the car slashed.

Dr. Hatake looked a little concerned. "You're medical records and history couldn't be accessed like that…"

Gaara interrupted him. "Hacker. I received a letter a few weeks later from the place I had stayed at saying someone had accessed my privet information and they were doing everything to find out who did it."

"The file about your father…"

"Newspaper article that could be downloaded from the library from my home town. Has my name and what happened."

The older man tapped his finger on his notepad, thinking. "And you know who did it?"  
"I know. I just can prove anything. Going to court and telling the judge that he smiled at me wouldn't take me very far. I don't have any proof."

Kakshi leaned back in his chair and closed his eye while he thought. "What else has been going on?"

Gaara went on to tell him about his relationship with Sakura and Naruto, how it was developing. He even told him about meeting Sakura's parents and how her father reminded him of someone that worked in a bakery.

"It's good that you can see how a 'normal' family can interact. It helps you understand how what happened to you was wrong."

"Wouldn't I just end up being jealous if I look at it that way?"

"Some would, yes, but you're sharp and haven't imagined yourself as the victim. I only mention it as something that you can refer to later on down the road when you have a family of your own. Many people in your position don't look at other families like that and end up repeating what happened to them to their own family."

"An Endless cycle?"

"For some, yes. It's the reason why people who were beaten end up beating their own kids or spouses."

Gaara tried imagining if he would be able to hit Sakura. The image disturbed him and he shook his head. "I don't think I could do that. Besides," A small smile touched his lips. "If she didn't kill me, I am sure Naruto or Lee might."

"Who's Lee?"

0o0o0o0o0

_Flashback_

Lee was, as Gaara found out the week before his appointment, a force to be reckoned with. After the results of his midterms came back, a new class schedule was sent out. Most of his classes were the same except for his last period, which had been changed from Economics to Gym and Sakura had Home Economics; the one class they didn't share.

It was all Gaara could do to stand. He couldn't remember a time when his body felt this tired, and for the first time he wished that he could fall asleep and block out the next six to eight hours. He pressed his head against the shower and just stood there was the spray of water flowed down his body, giving some relief to his sore body. As he stood there, the conversation he had had at lunch fluttered back into his brain.

"Eee…" Naurto had said while looking over at Gaara's schedule while they were eating lunch. "You have Gym with Mr. Might. That means Lee will be there…"

"Lee?"

"Remember that guy that tried to ask me out to the Home Coming?" Sakura said  
"The edger one? What so bad with him?"

"Well… nothing. He's a pretty cool guy." Naruto said around a mouth full of cheese hamburger. "He's just hard to keep up with. Try not to be his gym parennter."

This puzzled Gaara. "Why? Does he sweat too much?"

"No, you just won't be able to keep up with him. I don't think anyone can…" Sakura said thoughtfully.

How many laps had he run? Push-ups? Sit-ups? He wasn't sure but he knew, but he did know that he never wanted to do that many again… and that he would probably end up doing just that. What was this? Gym or Boot Camp? Lee had enjoyed himself completely. In fact, he had commented that Guy was going easy on them today.

Trying to wash himself was a bigger chore then he ever remembered, with the bar of soap weighing at least fifteen pounds and his arms twice that. He didn't even want to think about what it was going to be like to actually get dressed. By the time he stumbled out of the shower and back to his gym locker, he was extremely happy that this was his last class of the day. He wasn't sure if he would have been able to give his full effort otherwise.

And this was only the first day…

He was finally able to get dressed and hobbled out of the locker room with the rest of the male students just in time for the bell to ring. He's never been so happy to hear it. Turning to walk down the hall, Gaara path was blocked.

"I would like to have a man to man talk with you." Lee said to him. He was dressed in his karate Gi and seemed ready to go to his club.

"Now?"

"Now."

Gaara sighed and followed Lee. They walked down the hall in silence and it wasn't till they were outside that Lee finally spoke.

"I would… like to thank you."

Gaara looked at him.. "Why?"

"Before… before you came Sakura was very sad. Most of her movements were very mechanical… she wasn't all there. But… she's different now. Happy, more driven… and I know that it is because of you." Lee gave him a very determined look. "So… thank you."

The image of the first time he had seen Sakura suddenly popped back into his head. Not the time she had stopped by to his family food… but before that. Staring up at her when had first stepped out of the moving van. Her eyes… they had looked very sad… and lonely.

"No…" Gaara said slowly. "She's happy because she wants to be."

_End of Flashback_

0o0o0o0o0

"Ah, I know who you are talking about now."

Gaara blinked. "Really?"

"Bowl shaped cut, round eyes and extremely polite?"

Gaara nodded.

"Guy's prodigy." Seeing the puzzled look on Gaara's face, he explained. "Guy is someone that I went to college with. The person who teaches your gym class, Mr. Might? We've gone… practically everywhere together."

"You two were good friends?"

"Ah… no. More like rivals. We've competed for the same things for…" He thought about it. "I want to say the last ten years. The only reason he's left me alone for the last few years is because of Lee." Despite his words, his tone bordered on fondness.

"Anyway." He shifted in his seat. "Back on subject. What you need to do is fight back."  
Gaara frowned "How can I do that? I don't have half the influence he does."

"I'm not talking about it in a physical since. What he is doing is bullying."  
Gaara wasn't sure where he was going with this.

"After all the school shootings and sexual assaults that have been going on, it's a school's duty to make sure that there is no bullying. Other wise they could be sued for not stepping before something happened."

"So… you saying… you want me to tell someone?"

"Exactly." He started ticking things off his fingers. "Things such as punching, kicking, spitting, stealing, teasing, name calling, being ignored, shutting out or even rumor spreading… those are all forms of bullying."

The people I thought were my friends turned on me.

Gaara hadn't really connected the thought even when she had said it. At the time he had been too busy with being uncomfortable and preoccupied to hear what she's said. Little tid bits started coming back. He wasn't the only one. Sasuke had gone after a lot of different people. He may not know who they all were, but the one he did know…

"What do I need to do?"

* * *

Author Note:

This was all that I had written before hand. The rest of the updates after this one are going to take longer. If anything, I will finish this story, because it would be a crime not to. A whole lot of work and effort went into what you have already written and I would be kicking myself later on for not finishing it.


	14. Chapter 3 Part 4

Disclaimer: Naruto does not belong to me. The story on the other hand, does. If you take it claim it as your own work, I will find you and tickle you to death. You've been warned.

* * *

_Chapter 3, Part 4: V-day_

_In situations, such as these, people tell you that you need to either put up with it or fight back. How you do either or is up to you, but I would recommend that you fight back. Normally, when it comes to bulling, you are suppose to talk to a teacher or a parent, but in your case I would say that doing so wouldn't help much. You're going to have to fight back, and you'll probably want to be just as dirty as he is when doing it. _

'The only therapist in the world that would give that kind of advice.' Gaara thought as he sat on the sofa later that day. He'd been flipping through the channels for the last hour, going from a sells special and a movie on the A&E channel.

'He has to be number one…' Gaara thought while looking at the over excited expression on the woman's face. 'In just about everything. School, sports, social life and even future career. I wonder if that's caused from his home life or his own personal drive.'

"And she'll love you this Valentine's Day with the gift that'll touch her heart…" the sells woman said, holding up a shiny fake piece of jewelry. Gaara stared at the screen for a few moments before groaning.

0o0o0o0

He'd forgotten that it was a big deal. Mostly because he's never partaken in it and his brother and sister. With all that being said though, he didn't really think that it would be a valid excuse to give to Sakura about why he'd forgotten to give her a Valentine's Day gift. Even worse, he wasn't even sure what to give her.

You can't ask a brother, because he'd tell you to figure it out yourself.

Asking a sister could result in much cooing over and being dragged to every gift store she could find.

This would leave the best friend. Although, as Gaara looked at Naruto, he wondered if even that was such a great idea.

"How can you be so good at this game? Did you buy it and play it at home or something?" Naruto said, while jerking his controller to the side while smashing a few buttons in the attempt to try and avoid Gaara's attack. It came to no avail as Gaara selected character did a combo moved and brought Naruto's character down to half health.

"No, my sister said the game was too violent."

"You could have fooled me… Aww man…" Naruto looked dumbfounded at the screen. "How many wins is that now?"

"I donno… 13?"

"… let's try a new game." Naruto got up to filter though his game back.

Gaara had come over with every intention of asking him what he should do, but since Naruto was so happy to see him, he couldn't bring himself to tell Naruto he only wanted to see him because he needed something. They'd seen one movie and played this current movie for the last hour. It was getting late and if he put off asking much longer, he would be having dinner.

Gaara cleared his throat. "Hey Naruto… what are you getting Hinita for Valentine 's Day?"

"I donno, that's ages away, isn't it?"

"It's next week."

Naruto looked at him over his shoulder, his eyes holding a panicked look. "You're kidding, right?"

"No…"

Naruto let out a loud curse and sat soundly on his bottom. "I can't believe I forgot!"

"I forgot too… I don't know what Sakura would like in the way of a gift…"

"Man, I don't have any idea what to get Hinita either, if that makes you feel any better." Naruto said. "My dad said it doesn't matter so long as it's something they can show off to their friends."

Gaara raised his non-existent eyebrow. "I didn't think women had pissing contest like that."

"Are you kidding? You should watch them in the girl's locker room one day."

Gaara blinked. "I didn't figure you to be the type to be a peeping tom…"

Naruto could only laugh sheepishly while scrating the back of his head. "I'm a healthy young man with healthy needs ya know…"

0o0o0o0o0

Mrs. Yuhi gave Gaara a look. "Mr. Sabaku… what you are asking for is a little strange."

"I know that it is, but you're the only person I could think of to ask."

"Even if I could do what you asked, the reason alone isn't enough."

"Death in the family?"

"Gaara, why are you so determined to not take the finals with everyone else?"

"Because I don't need a week and three hours for each test."

Mrs. Yuhi sighed and rubbed her temples. "Let me… see what I can do." She looked back up at him. "But you promise to come back?"

"Mrs. Yuhi, if you do this for me, I will come back and sing in front of as many people as you want.

"Alright, let me get back to you on that."

"Thank you, ma'am." Gaara gathered his things and walked out of her office. Well, if that didn't work then he supposes the next step was to try his brother and sister a little farther down the road. Still, it would pay off down the road, if what he thought was going to happen was true, then it would pay off.

"Hey, you're Gaara, right?"

Gaara turned to see someone leaning on the lockers. If he didn't know any better, he could have sworn that the other youth had been waiting for him.

"My name is Kiba, I'm a friend of Hinata…"

"… and you're in Mrs. Yuhi's chorus class. I remember you from the concert."

"Ah, well. That's good. Can we talk? There is still ten minutes before lunch is over."

'Why does everyone want to talk to me?' "Sure."

The both walked down the hallway, away from Mrs. Yuhi's office before Kiba spoke.

"You know, you are a good singer."

"Thank you."

"You know… Hinata suggested that you my be interested in joining our band."

"Excuse me?"

"Well… we don't have a lead singer… I mean, I can sing a little, but my other three members don't really sing." He held up a hand and started tacking off fingers as he talked about each person. "Hinita comes and plays with us, but she only does the piano, getting her to sing is almost has fun as Trig. Shino just does the gatar, nothing else. Even if he did, he wears so much stuff around his face it would be muffled anyway. We have Choji, who plays the drums. I play the bass and a little singing, but it's nothing to write home to… so… we were wondering… would you like to join us?"

"Well, I… can I think on it?"

"Yeah! Take your time. Hinata just thought you'd like to join us."

0o0o0o0o0o0

"Are you sure about this?" Naruto asked, looking at what Gaara had.

"It's the thought that counts, right?" Gaara said, pulling it back to look at it.

"Who knows, she may really like it. She's always been the sympatric type, she may love it."

"As her best friend, you aren't reassuring me very well."

"Every time I give Sakura a gift, she hates it. I just give her money now and that's it."

"I just didn't want to get the standard candy and flowers. What kind of gifts are you getting her?" Gaara moved away from the glass case they had been looking at.

Naruto rubbed the back of his head thinking. "Well, I tried to take her out once when we first met, but she didn't seem to have a great time at Hooters. Another time I got her this Ramen gift card, but she ended up giving it to me that Christmas, I didn't notice till I went to the place and they asked me why I had even gotten the gift card. I got her a playgirl subscription after that, which I think she liked, but plays it off as it being insulting and vulgar."

"You got her playgirl?"

"Dude, she's such a super pervert. She's just pretends to be all modest and proper. I would think you would know better then anyone."

Besides the one time in the hotel, Gaara hadn't really… been with her like that. Not saying he didn't want to. It just felt a little awkward when he tried to bring it up, or hint at it. Constant physical contact was still new to him, and sex… well…

_I do this because I love you Gaara… I love you so much…_

"You ok?" Naruto placed a hand on his should. Spooking Gaara out of his train of thought. "You suddenly went pale."

Gaara's hand was placed over his forehead, right over his tattoo. He lowered it. "Yeah, my mind just wondered a little bit. Anyhow," he waved at the shop owner and waited till he came over before tapping the glass case. "Can I get this please?"

0o0o0o0o0o0

Sakura gave herself a pat on the back. Not only did they look like cookies, but they tasted good as well. She's made a dozen of them as well as a large one that looked like a Raccoon. The large cookie had taken a few tries before she's managed to actually make it work. She'd managed to use black icing to show the fur pattern and used two green MnMs for the eyes. She thought she really out-done herself, especially since she wasn't much of a baker.

She would give him the little cookies in the morning and the large one after school. Grinning to herself, she shifted though the draws in the kitchen to look for something to put the cookies in.

0o0o0o0o0

The next morning she was practically humming to herself as she rolled out of bed and got ready for the day. To make things better, it was a perfect day outside. Sakura could easily tell by looking that that it was going to be one of those perfect days where it wasn't too hot or too cold. It would be perfect.

Everything would be perfect. The clothes that she put on was a set that she'd noticed that Gaara seemed rather found of. That is, if you count a double look over as found over. Having everything ready, she opened the door with a bright smile…

… and no one was there.

It was truthfully the first time that he hadn't been there since they had been seeing each other. For a moment, she was tempted to close the door and open it again, thinking that perhaps she hadn't opened it the right way. She looked around to see if he was sitting on the stairs, but he wasn't. She walked over to the balcony to look at the bus stop and the one person she saw was Naruto, eating her daily breakfast of Ramen noodles.

'He must just be running late.'

She quickly make her way up the stairs and knocked on the door. When no one answered, she pulled out the spare key and let herself in.

"Hello? Gaara?"

Everything was quite for a moment, but then she hear someone coughing. She went and made her way to his room. She pushed the door open and peered inside. He wasn't asleep so much, but his face was flushed and he looked sweaty. It looked like he had moved to sit on the bed for a moment, and was now kind of halfway sitting and laying down.

"Gaara?" She placed a hand on his forehead and pulled it away almost as quickly: He had a fever!

"Hey…" Gaara said weakly, he opened his eyes up to look at her. "Good morning…"

"You're sick…" Try as might, she couldn't keep the disappointment out of her voice. She shoke her head. "Are you going to be ok?"

"Tamari is asleep and Kurano went to work early this morning. Something about a hot nurse…"

"You must be delirious… you don't normally make jokes." She smiled a little.

Gaara grunted his agreement. Sakura sighed and leaned over to kiss his forehead. She would like to stay, but there was not much that she could right now besides make him soup and some over the counter medication, and judging from the number of them on the night stand, he was already halfway there.

Sighing, Sakura helped Gaara get in a proper laying position before going out the door to catch the bus. Walking there alone for the first time in months.

0o0o0o0o0

Sakura set her things on the bed before taking her place at her desk. The day had been perfect, but she hadn't been able to enjoy it at all.

There is nothing more annoying then being single and watching all the couples be lovely dovey. The only thing more annoying then that is not being single, but still alone on Valentine's Day. For a moment, Sakura could only wonder about how people could be so obnoxious with their love before remember that she was the same that morning.

'It's not like this is the last Valentines day of the year.' She thought while looking out the window and spotting a couple walking down the street. 'Besides… it's just a day that women whore themselves out for cheap candy and flowers…' the bitter thought flowed in her mind.

"Stop it Sakura." She muttered to herself, raking her hands through her hand while lowering her head. There was the cookies in her backpack… but would he even be able to eat them? She hadn't actually gone up to see him yet… should probably…

Thump thump thump

Sakura blinked and looked at the window. A small basket with a roped tied to it was bumping into her window. She stared at it dumbly for a few moments before she reached over and pushing the window up. She reached over for the basket, pausing to look up to see where the source that wad dangling it.

Gaara, still fever looking, was looking down at her. She smiled at him, unhooked the basket and moved back inside. Inside it was a small box and a card. Good manners said that she should open the card first, but she went straight for the gift instead. It wasn't wrapped and she opened it.

Inside was a small key, no bigger then her palm. It was an old fashion looking, bronze in color and had a rather beat up look. She was a little confused at first by it till she noticed that there was a small bit of rolled up paper under it. Pulling the key out, she held in one hand while opening the note.

_This key belongs to something and precious. _

_It is small and it is fragile, but it is the most wondrous thing in the world._

_It's the key to a heart, thought once to be lost and never found._

_You came and changed everything._

_No one deserves this key more then you._

She looked from the note to the key and the back again. She went to her bag and grabbed her own gift, as well as making a quick stop in the kitchen to pick up the larger one.

Sick or not… it would rude not to give him his own gift.

* * *

Author Note:

I had trouble writing this just because I have been out of the rhythm for a while. I thought it turned out ok, of course it could use a little work, but that will be seen to when I go over the whole thing once it is done. I wave very determined to get this chapter done sooner rather then later, if anything, to just get my fingers working again.

I hope you all enjoyed it.


	15. Chapter 3, Part 5

Disclaimer: Naruto does not belong to me. The story on the other hand, does. If you take it claim it as your own work, I will find you and tickle you to death. You've been warned.

Extra warning: Slightly lemon. If you don't think you should read it, then don't.

* * *

Chapter 3, Part 5: End of Winter

"That was a great practice." Kiba said as he placed his bass gatar against the wall. He grinned broadly and rubbed his hands together. The band seem to practice in the garage that his family didn't use. It was a very different experience from going from his warm and specially made chorus room to this cold shack that had a heavy smell of dogs.

Gaara picked up the sheet music with clumsy written notes and crudely written words. He'd had to go over it the night before, trying to understand some of the cryptic words and writing down what he thought they were over it. Kiba's handwriting was just as bad, if not worse, then Naruto's.That wasn't say the music and lyrics were bad, it was just different from the choirs the classic he use to play.

"Man, I'm hungry." Choji said, standing up from behind the drum set, rubbing his stomach.

"You're always hungry, Choji. I'm surprise you didn't bring any snacks with you."

"I did, but I ate them on the way here." Choji said, with a good natured smile.

"Then perhaps we should go and get something to eat." Shino commented, placing his own gaitar in his case with bug stickers on it. He'd been the last person he'd expect to be here, although Gaara himself had received a few eyebrow raises when he'd show up.

"That's an awesome idea. You wanna come with us, Gaara?" Kiba chimed.

"I would, but I have a study date I need to make. Maybe next time." Gaara leaned down to pick up his heavy coat and scarf. It was the last of the winter chill. Trees everywhere were threatening to erupt with new growth and blossoms. Something he was looking forward to, having enough of this winter nonsense. It was once step closer to summer, and the heat that he was dreadfully missing.

"Hopefully Hinata can make it next time too. It sounds better when she's here." Kiba jerked his thumb over to the electir piano sitting in one corner of the garage. "Awesome practice again."

Jacket buttoned and scarf secure around his neck, Gaara gave them a small smile before nodding his farewell and making his way down the large drive way.

Kiba's family had a large property and had managed to fill almost all of it. They seemed to be extremely found of dogs. Kiba himself had a large white dog that had sat inside the garage with him during the entire practice. His, from what Gaara understood, sister was a vet and his mother seemed to be some spokeswoman for a people against animal abuse. The property itself was very large, parts off it fenced off with certain types of dogs inside. It seemed people dropped off their unwanted dogs here and left the Inuzuka's to care for them. The place was, in every since of the word, a dog farm.

When Gaara had sang, he wasn't sure if it was a good or bad thing when some of the other dogs in the area had started to bark and howl.

As he made his way to the end of the drive, he spotted one dog that was alone in his pin. It was laying there with its head resting on his paws. It's fur pattern and shape reminded him of some of the wild coyote dogs that use to scamper about the desert mountains. Gaara watched the dogs eyes follow him with an almost human interest.

Curious, he walked closer to the fence to look at the animal. As soon as he rested his hand on the fence, the dog's head perked up. They stared at each other for a moment before Gaara placed his hand inside and made the 'tut tut' noise his sister did when she use to try and attract cats. The animal stood and pattered over to investigate him.

Once the dog was done sniffing him, Gaara carefully moved to pet the top of the dog's head. Whit the animal closer, Gaara noticed how part of the animal's ear was ripped and the tail looked like it had been broken in more then one place. Feeling sympathy for it, Gaara scratched the animal behind the ear, cause it to both whine and thump its tail on the ground.

"In the market for a pet?"

Gaara jumped a little at the voice. Turning, he saw Kiba's mother pushing a wheel barrel of dog food toward him. She was a rough looking woman with wild black hair, a rough looking wolf-dog trotting at her side.

"My apartment complex doesn't allow pets…" Gaara said slowly.

"That's a shame. You're the first person he's been friendly too since we rescued him." She said, scooping some dog food into the bowl inside the fenced area. The dog inside didn't move, enjoying his ear rub too much to want to move. "He's picky, that one."

Gaara couldn't help but smile as he looked back down the dog. The animal looked back up at him and he felt a small connection. Both of them were a little worse for wear, but still alive. "If he's still here when I get out of school, I'll come and get him."

"He'll be here." Kiba's mother smiled as she watched them. "Good pets always pick the owners, not the other way around. You have a friend for life there." She pointed as the dog was now licking his hand. Gaara gave the animal one last pat on the head before pulling his hand back and watched as it when over to inspect the new food in his bowl.

Gaara said goodbye to Kiba's mother before making his way down the rest of the driveway and down to the bus stop.

0o0o0o0o0o0

The simple truth of the matter was that for the first time in his life, he didn't feel like studying. He'd made the effort to study with Sakura. They had gone over history and knocked out math. Currently they were working on their English assignment; translating a poem written by Longfellow. Normally he would enjoy this… but Sakura was providing to be more of a distraction then he though, and she wasn't even aware of it.

She'd come up dressed in a long red sweater that went down pack her hips and black pants. The necklace he'd given her for Valentines day peaking out from the collar of her sweater. He was not normally enticed by clothing… but today seemed to be an exception.

Every now and then when she moved, the a glint from the necklace would catch his eye. This would lead to him looking at her neck, followed be the desire to bury his neck in it. The thoughts following this became more and more graphic the more times he looked at it.

He had to face facts… he was simply too horny to really keep his mind on anything.

Sighing, Gaara made another effort to try and focus on the subject at hand. He almost succeed till Sakura yawned and stretched her hand over her head, unknowingly pushing her chest forward. His resolve was smashed away and watched as she leaned back over the book she was reading for her part of the poem.

"I just don't get it." She muttered while rereading the poem.

Gaara stood and moved behind her, looking over her shoulder so he could read it with her. "Which part?" Her hair smelled nice from whatever fruity shampoo she used.

"Well… I mean… I understand what it's about, I'm just not sure how to translate it." She said sheepishly.

"Try reading it out loud. I find it helps."

Sakura snorted, put pulled the text book closer and started to read in a semi monotone voice. "There is a love that cannot die! And some their doom have me. Heart-broken and gone as stars go by, That rise, and burn, and set. Their days were in Spring's fallen leaf. Tender and young and bright and—" She suddenly broke off with a gasp as he lightly bit the junction between her neck and shoulder.

"Don't stop." He said as he nibbled his way up her neck. He felt goose bumps rise on her skin and grinned. Sakura started to read again, her words interrupted by gasps and small moans as he continued to assault her neck with his mouth. Her voice went up and pitch or two when he slide his arms around her to tease her stomach through the sweater.

The middle part of the poem was cut off altogether when he slide his hands under her sweater and used his finger tips to tease the area right under her bra, causing her to wiggle and moan in her seat. Gaara noticed how she was gripping the book tightly enough make her knuckles turn white.

"You should finished the poem…" he murmured into her neck. "I'll do something nice to you if you do."

"You've been hanging out with Naruto too long." She said shakily.

"Perhaps." His hands moved up, sliding under the bra and gave her chest a soft squeeze. "I'll stop if you really want me to."

She didn't say anything for a moment and Gaara had a disappointed feeling that she was going to tell him that she did want him to stop. He was about to disentangle himself from her when pulled the book closer and quickly started reading the rest of the poem and then promptly tossed it to the other side of the room when she was done.

Almost as if they had rehearsed it, Sakura stood to face him and he pushed the chair out of the way. He placed his hands under her rear to lift her and place her on the desk. When he kissed her, it wasn't his normal soft ones but a hungry one. Sakura moaned into his mouth and pressed her legs on either side of his hips and let herself be pressed down onto the desk.

Their hands were fumbling under each other clothes when there was the sudden sound of the front door to the apartment being opened. Both frozen for a moment, it wasn't until Karuase voice doing his normal "Honey, I'm hoommmee" call that they both detached from each other and hurriedly tried to fix their clothes. By the time Karuse had walked down the hall to his room, they were both sitting at the desk, looking at a random text book.

"Since I'm home early, you guys want to go catch a movie or dinner?"

"Dinner sounds good." Gaara said over his shoulder.

"Is it too hot in here for you Sakura? You're face is all flushed." Karasu asked, looking a little concernted.

Sakura gave a little laugh and fanned herself with a bit of paper. "It is always a little warm up here."

"You can blame Gaara. He always wants it to be as hot as it is back home. I'll turn it down for you. It wouldn't be a good thing if you passed out from over heating." He said, walked away.

"Thank you!" She called after him be looking back at Gaara. They shared a small looked before she burst into silent giggles. She leaned over to kiss him on the cheek and said softly. "My parents are going out to another business party tonight… we'll get our alone time after dinner."

0o0o0o0o0o0o0

Gaara laid back on the bed, Sakura curled up against him already fast asleep Her arm was draped over his chest and holding him close like a child would with a teddy bear. His hand was idly moving up and down his shoulder. His mind was empty of all thoughts, simply enjoying the current moment and the afterglow.

He wouldn't be able to stay much longer. The flimsy excuse of needing to do more studying wouldn't work if he was gone too long with his brother. Gaara just simply didn't want to leave. He wanted to stay here for as long as possible.

For the first time, in a long time, he felt himself fully relaxed. Muscles in his body that he never thought of had relaxed and were giving him an overall euphoric feeling. Here in Sakura's bedroom with her stuff animal collection, pink patterned wall paper and frilly bed, he really couldn't remember being this content with his life. So… happy…

His eyes had closed on his own, and he turned to smell Sakura's hair again.. Before he knew what happened, he'd fallen fast asleep.

_They'd placed him in the room again with the one way observation mirror. He wondered how many people were sitting on the other side, watching him and exchanging notes about his behavior. One of the nurses had come in to try and place the little electrodes on him but had given up when he'd gotten up and tossed his chair at her._

_He hated those things. A small alien object on his body. He'd grown to hate those like he'd done with the needles and the shots that they felt he should be taking, since he refused to take the pills. Normally when they brought him here, a doctor would come in with cards or some object to show it to him and watch his reaction. He was unresponsive as always, but he was mildly curious what they would do with him today… and how long it would take. _

_When the door opened, a tall busty blond walked in and closed the door behind her. She took a seat in front of him and thumped a large folder, thick with many sheets of paper inside, on top of the metal desk between them._

"_My name is Dr. Tsunade." She said. Her voice not the careful calm that many of the other doctors and nurses like to talk with. Rather, it was load, blunt and too the point. It made him blink. "I'm here because the doctors think that you condition is getting worse and could effect your body. Now, from what I see from your record," her hand opened his record and flipped through the pages " you are as healthy as a new born baby, but I would like to run some test." She leaned back in her chair and crossed her arms over her massive chest. "I can't do that with you refusing to let the nurses touch you. If you don't corporate, then I was have you sedated."_

_Gaara jerked back in his chair at the mention of sedation._

"_I see you don't like that option, but the choice is up to you. You can either let me do my job or I will take matters into my own hands." The last bit of the statement was said threateningly. "Please don't make us be rough with you."_

_Gaara was trembling in his seat, unable to keep everything he was feeling in check. He and the doctor glared at each other for a few moments before raised one of her hands towards the one way mirror and made a beckoning motion with her fingers. A few moments later an average sized woman with short brown hair opened the door and walked inside. _

"_This is my assistant. She'll be working with me. Between her and I, we'll be the only ones to touch you unless you don't refuse to work with us."_

_There was a silence before the other woman walked forward and kneeled next to Gaara. "I'm just going to take a blood sample. It'll only sting a little." She said softly. When Gaara didn't acknowledge her, she raised two of her hands up tentatively and rolled up the sleeve to his shirt. It only took her a moment to get the sample before leaving the room._

_Tsunade smiled at him. "See? That wasn't so bad…"_

Gaara's eye fluttered open and he felt disorientated. His mind took a few moments to realize that he wasn't still in his ward room back home, or even in his own room. The warm breath moving over his chest was what jogged his memory back present. Groggery he rub his eyes and looked over to spy the time on the clock on the bed stand. His eyes widened as and he blinked hard to make sure he read the time right.

Had he really slept that long?

Wondering if he could sneak back up to his apartment, Gaara tried to disentangle himself from Sakura. Even in her deep sleep state, she had other ideas. The arm around him was suddenly holding him tightly and she murmured almost worryingly into his chest.

"Sakura…" He said, giving a soft shake, but she didn't wake. Instead she brought one of her legs up to curl around one his before becoming still again.

Sighing, Gaara made himself comfortable on her bed and laid his head back. He couldn't really argue with that.

0o0o0o0o0o0

Gaara stood with Hinata on the side walk and waved good-bye to grey hound bus as it pulled out of the parking lot. Some of the students inside the bus had their upper bodies poked out the top windows and were waving at some of the other standing on the sidewalk with them. It was easy to spot Naruto and Sakura who were waving furiously at them.

"Good luck Naruto!" Hinata called out to him. "Kick some ass!" She blushed as she noticed some of the others to turn back to look at her. Naruto only grinned widen and blew kisses at her.

It was the time of the year for sports. So far the only ones going out of state where the Soccer and Karate teams. If they sent out anymore then, then the school population would drop dramatically and they might as well close the school down for two weeks. Gaara was a little envious that he wasn't in sports, since everyone seemed like they were really happy to be going.

"So it looks like we're both alone for two weeks." Hinata said once the bus was out of sight. "What are you going to do?"

"I was going to stay home, but Naruto wants me to keep an eye on you and chase your fan club off."

Her eyes lit up in good humor. "How are you going to do that?"

Gaara reached into his pocket and pulled out his taser.

0o0o0o0o0o0

The truth was that while Gaara did hang out with Hinata and some of the others, he did it because it was lonely without Naruto and Sakura. He had been halfway temped to go back up to the roof and spend his lunch periods up there, but the want of human company had grown on him.

For the most part, he spent time with Kiba who was trying to work on new songs and lyrics with Hinata. Choji turned out to be an extremely nice person, when he wasn't stuffing his mouth with food. Shino turned out to rarely talk at all, and when he did it was in an almost cryptic manner that Gaara had to get use to.

He didn't really realize how glued at the hip he'd been with Sakura and Naruto until she started spending more with their-- **his** friends. Another one of Naruto's friends, Neji, was a surprise that they even close. They seemed to be on opposite ends on the personality scale. He was even more surprised when Hinata said she and Neji were cousins.

"I always found Naruto's determination and willingness to not be what people label him to be moving" Neji said when Gaara asked why they hanged out. "I use to think he was just a loser, but he kind of beat some sense into me." He chuckled and Gaara imagined that he meant that literally.

0o0o0o0o0o0

He's expected, no Gaara **knew**, that this run in was going to happen. He suspected that Sasuke would pick this time when he wouldn't have emotional support. Gaara just counted his blessings that Sasuke was alone.

It was after the choirs' practice, which wasn't much a practice with a party of one. The teacher only worked on some vocal techniques. With some time to spare before the after activities bus would arrive, Gaara decided that it was a good time to go and rearrange the contents of his locker. If Gaara hadn't noticed the soft foot steps, a paranoid trait he kept from when he use to get by day to day in the juvenile ward, if Sasuke would have moved close enough to touch the hairs on his neck.

As it was, he noticed him when he was walking down the small set of stairs leading to a small section of lockers where Gaara's was. He was wearing his normal cloths, but judging from the slightly tousled hair and a faint sheen of sweat on Sasuke's neck, Gaara knew that he had just finished with his kendo practice.

They stared at each other for a silent moment. Sasuke looked at him with his hands in his pockets while Gaara's eyes looked around, confirming that he was really alone. Gaara closed his locker and turned to face him.

"No fan club today?"

"They can be annoying." Sasuke said simply.

"Is it worth it?" Gaara asked suddenly.

"What?"

"Ruining people's lives just because you want to be the best? Or is there some kind of twisted personal satisfaction you get from it?"

Sasuke chuckled. "I don't ruin anyone's life. It's just high school anyway, it's not like anything here matters once you leave."

"Not to you."

"Not to anyone. What does it matter to you anyway?"

"I was just wonder why you decided to be the way you are. I see I was right with my first theory though."

"Oh?" Sasuke smiled. "Entertain me… What was your theory?"

"That you'll never be as good as your brother." The words had an unexpected impact. Gaara had thought that Sasuke would simply brush the statement off as if it didn't mean anything, but instead… he looked like he had just been slapped. "You're brother was naturally good at everything he did, with little effort. With high expectations from you family and anyone else that knew him, you just couldn't be as good as him… but you do pretend…

"Shut up!" Sasuke snapped, cutting off whatever else Gaara had been about to say. "You don't know anything!"

"You're right." Gaara said coolly, bending over to pick up his bag and slid the strap over his arm. "I don't… like I said: It's just a theory. It was nice talking to you." Gaara made his way out of the locker room, thought the one exit that Sasuke wasn't blocking.

"Why won't you just give up?"

Gaara paused. He thought for a moment before saying slowly. "I have my pride." He left then, not waiting for a response to whatever Saskue would have to say.

* * *

Author Note: I'm sorry I haven't written anything in a long time. In truth… I just wasn't sure what to write. I have the timeline of events in my head, just going about it has been difficult. For the last few weeks when I tried to write something, Gaara would refuse to play along.

Anyhow, I would like to thank you for your patients in waiting for this chapter. I hope the next one won't take as long, but I won't make any promises. The only thing I can say is that I won't let this be a fic with no ending. There are about five more "chapters" left to be done, and I will write them.

Hope you enjoyed your read. Reviews are welcomed by me with great bundles of love, just like suggestions.


	16. Chapter 4, Part 1

Disclaimer: Naruto, and its cast, does not belong to me. The story on the other hand, does. Should you chose to take it and claim it as your own work, I will find you and tickle you to death.

* * *

Chapter Four, Part 1: Moving on

"Oi, Sabaku. You got some mail." The guard said as he slide a package through the bars of the cell. The brown haired man on the bottom bed look at the guard before reaching up to take the parcel. It had already been opened for inspection by whoever it was that was in charge of that type of thing. Not that anyone would have seem him anything of that nature.

He turned it over in his hands to see who the sender was and froze.

T, K, & G Sabaku  
4132 Oak Ave Apt #334  
Leaf Village…

Temari, Kankuro and Gaara? His kids? Without another moments thought he ripped open the parcel and looked at the thick envelope and DVD case. There was a small sticky note on the envelope.

"Dear Dad,  
Our "letters" are on the DVD and the pictures are all within the last year. We'll try to visit this year after Gaara graduates High School.  
Tamari"

Blinking, he picked up the envelope and sorted through the picutes. There was one of Kankuro and Gaara sitting in a room full of boxes watching the TV on the other side of the room. Flipping the picture over, he saw a comment in Tamari's neat handwriting: The boys working hard at unpacking. He chuckled and kept going through the pictures. There were tons of pictures of all his kids, some of them at work, some at home and few of Gaara at school. There were a bunch of group pictures, a few single shots and two of Gaara's school photos. One was the normal start of the year portrait while the other was what looked like a homecoming picture of him and a pinked haired girl. There were a few with him and another boy that was labeled 'Naruto' on the back of the pictures.

He went through the pictured three more times before setting them to the side. He looked at the DVD case and opened it. A normal DVD was inside with no label. He stood and waved to one of the guards to see if he could get the TV later that day. It boggled him a little that they would contact him after so long and after what he did. Not that he didn't feel sorry for it. Once he'd been sentence and forced to she a pycologiest, the reality of everything sunk in and feel into a such a state of depression that they had to put him on medication for a few years. He'd wanted to contact his kids and tell them how sorry he was, but contact was forbidden till they were all 18. Gaara, he knew, would be turning 18 this summer.

The rest of the day went as normal for him, save he had pictures of his kids to show to some of the other inmates. He had never been a bragger of his kids, but after getting the package he sure felt like one. In the afternoon when he was scheduled to use the TV, he felt overly excited like a kid on his first trip to the Disney world. There were guards there to make sure he didn't do anything, but he didn't mind. It wasn't like his kids would send him anything he couldn't watch. His little girl was too smart for that.

The TV flashed a white color before a close up view of a hand was covering the lens.

"Hey, the red light is on. I think you got it Tamari." A male voice said.

The owner of the hand backed away from the camera and moved to sit on a sofa that was occupied by two others. Tamari sat on the far left with her hands politely on her crossed legs. Kankuro was leaning forward till his elbows were resting on his knees on the right side of the sofa. Sitting between them was Gaara who was leaning back into the sofa with his arms crossed over his chest. Tamari was the spitting image of her mother while Kankuro looked just like him. Gaara was a mix of the two, although it looked like he's gotten his Grandfather's red hair.

"Hi Daddy." Tamari said in a chipper voice. "Long time no talk, eh? Sorry we haven't sent you any word about us, but it's been really busy until recently. Anyway, we all have our own letters to give you, but we won't be going back over the tape to change anything or see what the other said. It's all for your ears only. We'll also be showing you some other stuff. Enjoy."

Tamari got back up to turn the camera off and the close up of her body was replaced with a different.

"Stupid piece of crap." The new person said. "Why couldn't she get something easier to use? Oh, wait…" Kankuro's face suddenly came into view. He looked into the camera for a moment. "This is my comedy show… Join me?" Kankuro said with a grin before moving to take a seat on his bed.

"Hey dad." He waved. "So this is our room, Tamari and I. Gaara has his own. We couldn't afforded to get a place with three rooms so we got a master with a spare bedroom. Gaara has too many books to share a room with, so Sis and I bunk. Hopefully we can get a new place in the fall and not share anymore. Anyway…"

Kankuro went on to talk about his job. He'd actually managed to land a job at a Muppet studio after working at a Day Care for so long. It turned out that people were wanted to bring back that art and he was very happy to be part of the team. Kankuro told him that if he watched the show what Muppets were his and was happy to announce that they were going to add one of his own original character to the story. After wards he would drive to the local hospital and entertain the patients there. It was something that made him feel good and he enjoyed it a lot.

"That's all I really have right now. We plan to come down this summer an see you once Gaara get's out of school. Gaara is looking at some colleges out there and coming to see you was his idea. 'Since we'll be in the area' were his words. So we'll see you then."

Kankuro smiled at him before standing up to shut off the camera. There was a black screen for a moment before it turned on again. This time Tamari was moving away, dressed in a bathroom. She yawned and rubbed her eyes before getting comfortable in the sofa he had seen before.

"You'll have to forgive me, Daddy. This is the only time I get the house to myself and Kankuro and Gaara keep trying to spy on me when I try to do this. Kankuro is work and Gaara went to school not to long ago." She covered up a yawn again before taking a sip of coffee. "Things are good here. Really good. Gaara's made so much improvement. It's almost like he's a new person. Moving out here was a good idea. I wish you could see it here. It's so… green. The sky is beautiful as well. Sometimes at night I go up on the roof and look at the stars. It's also cold. We just finished our first winter here and I learned I don't care much for snow…" She talked about her job working night classes as a space science professor and a tutor part-time. She enjoyed helping people, which seemed be a reoccurring theme with his kids.

She was also seeing someone, but who it was a secret from her brothers. For now anyway. She liked him. She's met him in a tutor session but found out that he didn't lack understanding, but motivation. He's started it by asking that if he passes all his classes that semester with a 4.0 if she would go out to dinner with him. She'd agreed, not thinking he would do it, but he'd shown up later with a report card showing a GPA of 4.0. Chest had proven to be a source of entertainment for both of them, although he normally won.

"Heh, I'm babbling now, aren't I?" She blushed. "Anyway, I'll stop for now and pass the camera one. See you later, Daddy." She turned off the camera.

It turned on a second later to the view of a pair of eyes that looked like they did see much sleep. Gaara placed the recorder on something, his hand wavering on the sides to make sure it did fall before moving back to sit on his bed. As Kankuro has stated earlier, there were books on books in his room. He had enough build a little fort. From what he could see, there was a wide range. "Moby Dick" sat on top of "Emma" which sat on top of "Beginners guild to quantum physics." Gaara himself looked tired, if the dark circles under his eyes were any indication, but his eyes looked sharp and focused.

"This… was my therapist idea." He started. "He said that to help me get over the past the I needed to let it go. What happened with my uncle… I don't think I can get over that…"

He looked away from the camera for a moment. Sabaku eyes narrowed for a moment. What was he talking about?

Gaara looked at the camera. "But with you I can. I can kind of understand how you would feel if you lost someone you really love. Besides, you were… sick." Gaara signed, his eyes closed again. His fingers thumped on his knees for a moment. "I don't know what to say really. School is ok. I have some friends now. Good Friends. Naruto, this kids that lives across the way, and I hang out a lot. He's very determined. He wants to go to Serial A, a soccer competition. I also have a girl friend. She's very understanding and kind. Smart too. There's this one kid at school that I have problems with. He has a complex about being the best. I think he's… I donno." He looked up at the camera. "If I said he was dangerous, that would just be dramatic, but he's really just spoiled. He put a picture of you on the floor after that… incident at the foster place. Everyone thinks I killed you, but I don't really see the point in trying to talk them out of it since I know they won't believe me. I've already got an idea of what to do with him anyway." He sighed and leaned back and looked around the room. "I don't know what else to say really. I don't really have anything gong on like others. I'll send it for now and see you this summer." He got up and turned off the recorder.

The vision of Gaara was replaced by the sudden view of a pair of bright blue eyes. "This thing is way better then one that we have."

"Did you just turn it on?" Came Gaara's voice.

"Errr… I think so… Yeah, the little light is on." The camera back up a little and Sabaku saw the face of the blond boy from the photos. The image changed as it landed on Gaara who was sitting on the sofa with a pizza on a paper plate and a can of soda on the coffee table in front of him. The TV was blaring on from somewhere.

"Don't keep it on too long. The video in it is a family project."

"I won't." Came Naruto's voice. "Let me check out the zoom and then I'll turn it off." The camera swirled and then bobbed as the Naruto walked over to the window. The camera zoomed in on a car that had just pulled into the parking lot. A blond woman stepped out of it. Zooming in, the person turned out to be Temari.

"Hey, your sister is home."

There was a grunt reply from off screen as the camera zoomed in farther. Another person got out of the car. A youth with dark grey/brown hair in a high spiky pony tail. They talked for a moment before he leaned in to kiss her. She returned the kiss, placing a hand on the back of his head.

"Hey, did you ever find out who your sister was dating?" Came Naruto's voice.

"No, why?"

"I think she's dating Shikamaru."

There was a silence as the camera stayed on the two who were still enthralled with each other. "Why do you say that?"

"Because I am watching him kiss her."

There was the sudden stomping sound of feet and then the window opened. Gaara's hand came into view as he leaned out the window.

"GET YOUR HANDS OFF MY SISTER!" Gaara yelled down at the pair. They jumped apart looking up at them.

"You're on Koniha Camera!" Naruto yelled at them, breaking into fits of laughter afterwards.

"You turn that off! We're getting that off the tape!"

There was more laughter and then the camera turned off. There was a flick and then he was traveling down a hallway. Walking through a door, Sabaru saw a younger girl with pink hair sitting at a desk deeply engrossed in a book. She was wearing a bright red shirt with white trimming and a black pair of jeans. After a few minutes she looked over at him.

She frowned and blushed. "What are you doing?"

"Showing off." Gaara said.

"I thought your sister hid that."

"She still thinks I won't look over the stove for stuff." Gaara chuckled. The camera shifted as Gaara moved to sit in the empty seat next to her. She turned and tried to cover her face up.

"This is embarrassing."

"So?"

"Give me that." She reached forward and grabbed the camera from him. It was now pointing at Gaara was looking at it. "How do you like it now?"

"I donno. What did you want to do with it?" He wiggled his eyes at her suggestively and had an eraser tossed at him.

"Perv."

"You're one to talk."

"Excuse me?" Her dignified voice replied.

"I don't keep a box of porn under my bed like you. Yaoi to be exact."

"When did you find that?!"

"Not telling." He said. "Give me that. It's got the video we are sending to my dad in it." He reached out a hand for it.

"We're erasing this!"

The camera was suddenly moving all over the place as the two fought over the camera. There was some laughter from Gaara and shrieking from the girl as the battle went on. Again the camera turned off.

"Cute kids you have there. You're time is up. You can see the rest tomorrow." The Guard said as he leaned forward to take the disk out of the player. He sighed and stood up. They escorted him out of the room and back down the hall to his cell. Today was a wonderful day.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0

"Ugh, you two are so mopy." Kiba said to Hinata and Gaara. "It's not like they aren't going to come back you know. What is it? Another week? You should be happy that they went to the championships."

Gaara glared at him. Unlike other schools, when this school did sports, they went all the way and did it all at once rather then prolong matches with other schools. It was moving into the third week and he was missing Sakura something dreadful. Hinata was in the same boat. Sitting near them was like sitting near a storm cloud. Gaara suppose that if had bothered to get a cell phone he could at least call Sakura like Hinata did, but he wasn't sure if that would make the loneliness any better or worse.

"At least they are coming back next week." Choji said. "That's something to look forward to, right?"

"Hopefully Sakura didn't break any bones this year in the marital arts competition like last year." Kiba said.

"Sakura? I'd be more worried about Lee. Let's hope he didn't take the training weights off. Last time he did that they almost banned him." Shino said.

"Seems like it's taking forever for them to come back." Hinata said. Gaara agreed with her. He would have to check out some books from the library or something to distract him. Although that was proving to be difficult. Maybe he should study for the finals…

Finals.

A thought suddenly hit him. Finals. Finals were very close. After that would be college… but first the finals. He didn't have any doubt that he would pass… but…

"I need to go." He said, standing up.

"Where are you off to?" Kiba asked.

"I want to talk to a teacher about an extra credit assignment."

Kiba grunted. "As if you need it." Gaara gave them a quick smile before leaving the cafeteria. He was stopped by a teacher on the way out, but hearing his request he let him through. Gaara knew where he wanted to go and didn't waste any time getting there.

Carefully he knocked on the door to the music room. There was moment before Mrs. Yuhi opened it. She smiled at him. "Hello Gaara. What Can I do for you?"

"I was wondering about my request. If you heard anything about it?"

She looked at him for a moment before stepping to the side. "Come inside and lets talk about it."

* * *

AN:

I apologize for the extremely late update. I've had a lot going on here and been very busy.

No, Gaara's dad isn't dead. At no point did I state that, although it may have been strongly hinted. I wasn't sure what to do with him till this chapter anyway. I figured it would be good to bring him in for just a short bit.

Anyhow, the end of the chapter is near. Four more chapters. I hope you all enjoyed this.


	17. Chapter 4, Part 2

Disclaimer: Naruto, and its cast, does not belong to me. The story on the other hand, does. Should you chose to take it and claim it as your own work, I will find you and tickle you to death.

* * *

Chapter 4, Part 2: Set back

Gaara laid on his bed and looked up at the ceiling. He'd spend the better part of the afternoon trying to distract himself. Doing everything from homework, to extra credit and even looking at some more pamphlets from colleges. Tomorrow was the day that the Grey hound bus came back and brought back his Sakura and Naruto. He really didn't think that he would miss them as much, but he did. Spending so many years not needing other people and going to being a mopy teenage boy without his girlfriend had just gone to show how much he really had changed over the year. Even his brother had commented on his attitude.

Granted, this had given him time to think things over. About after school, college, work and what not. Kakashi said that he would not need to see him anymore after he finished high school, but he was always welcome to come back should something happen. Not that anything would happen. There wasn't any possible chance that he would relapse into his previous state. Hell, he'd even managed to send something to his father. If that wasn't some kind of improvement, then he didn't know what to call it.

Sighing, he rolled over and looked out the window. Another reason he wanted Sakura to come back was so that he could sleep again. He found that without her nearby, he couldn't sleep. He could have taken the Doxepin, but the fear of possibly suffering from night terrors was holding him back. That and he preferred the natural and easy sleep that he seemed to have when Sakura was nearby.

Reaching over, he grabbed one of the many pamphlets from his desk. They had been coming in like crazy since he'd taken the SAT earlier that year. He knew what the test was for college selections, but he didn't think that he would get so many. Not with his background anyway. Or maybe it was because of it? Tamari said that Colleges moved in mysterious ways and it was better off to not think too hard about it. They were all good schools. The ones that cost too much he had tossed in the trash right away. More money did not mean a better educations. Then he had to go and research the colleges, doing checks on student reviews, education inspections and then checking the media. Any college that was in the top ten for most drunk driving, stoners, bad area and nudity he had been to toss those in the trash as well. It narrowed the schools down to about ten, which he thought was an ok number to work with. All he needed to do at this point was figure out what he wanted to study.

Easier said then done.

There were lots of things he could study. Lots of areas that he thought where particularly interesting. Lots of jobs that he could do after school. He didn't want to do art. It was a fun hobby, not something he was particularly interested in pursuing. He hadn't really picked up a drawing pad in a few months anyway. Then there was the band. Did he want to purse that? He was having fun with it, but he didn't know if they were wanting to go pro. He didn't need to express himself that way anymore. Lititure maybe? He differently liked to read, but not write so much. A little voice buzzed about his ear:

_What about something involving people? Maybe you can be a therapist?_

He snorted at the thought. Sure, he'd spent the better part of eight years talking to therapist, psychologist, doctors, all of them, but he didn't think he could do it. Still… He wouldn't cross the possibility off the list. He would tuck it to the side and come back to it later. One of the schools that were in his list happened to have a good psychology program. It would be worth looking into.

0o0o0o0

He couldn't remember the last time he'd felt this excited. Hell, couldn't remember ever feeling excited period. Standing with parents and fellow classmates, Gaara waited in the parking lot for the buses to come. With it, it would bring all the missing students who head hadn't seen for the last three weeks. He didn't care about most of them. Just two. He'd offered to pick Sakura up for her parents, but was only allowed to if he came to dinner with them that night. It seemed that the news that he been dating Sakura for the better part of the year and never come over had finally reached Sakura's mother. Still, it was a price he didn't mind paying. Not if he got to hold her in his arms again. Along with other things.

The last thought actually made him grin.

Hinata was there, but she stood near Neji, who was her ride. Her family was still not in the approving stages of her dating Naruto and wouldn't give her the car. Gaara was surprised to see that not only had bowed her head and done what they asked, but went to another person and asked. It had made Gaara smile. He wasn't the only one changing.

The sound of people exclaiming that the bus was coming snapped his head back. It was indeed coming towards. It seemed as if it was going at an extremely slow pace. Gaara mentally chimed himself. He was going to have to wait regardless. It wasn't as if she was going to be the first one off the bus. Or even if it was this bus. There was two more coming as well. He sighed, and shifted his weight from foot to foot.

However, when the first bus stopped, he could see some clammer inside it and a few of the students were trying to get off the bus first. He was about to find something to lean on while he waited when the bus doors opened and out burst two figures. One with yellow hair made a bee line for Hinata while the other came straight for him. He was ready and when Sakura collided with him he went toppling backwards with his feet flying in the air in his wake. He landed on the ground with an "oof!" and then an "ugh!" when Sakura fell on top of him.

"I'm sorry!" Sakura said before she pushed herself up on her arms. "I'm just really happy to see you." She smiled and Gaara pushed himself to give her a modest kiss before they both got to their feet. They hugged and held onto each other while the rest of the students marched off the bus and picked up their things from the under carriage. He couldn't believe he'd miss this simple contact with her. He gave her another kiss before they went to grab her duffle bag and make their way to the car. Gaara thought about stopping to talk to Hinata, but seeing him so… entwined with Hinata made him to just stop by his place tomorrow.

"Where's mom an dad?"

"At home. I am to bring you home and then have dinner." Seeing the look on her face, he shrugged. "Your mom found out. She was very insistent that I come over tonight.

"Ugh. I'm sorry." She said as she got into the car.

Gaara put her bag in the back seat before getting behind the wheel and driving off. "I am actually looking forward to it."

"Really?"

"Yeah. You're parents are nice."

Sakura smiled and reached over to grab his hand. He squeezed it before placing his hand back on the wheel. She was in good sprits and chatted away. The competition had gone well, and they'd even won the finals, to which she was very thrilled at. She talked till they finally drove up to their building. When they went up the stairs, he grabbed her hand and led her up the extra set of stairs to his apartment. She looked at him questionly while he opened the door.

"Tamria? Kanuro?" When one answered, he smiled. "Perfect."

When he turned to her, she still didn't understand. Then understanding spread on her face along with a flush. She didn't argue when he took her bag and tossed it to the side before placing his arms on either side of her head against the door, pinning her there.

"I missed you." He said simply before lowering his head to capture her lips with his. Sakura kissed him back, her hands sliding up his chest to rest on his collarbone. He wanted to do more. He wanted to take her to his room and reacquaint himself every part of her body, but he knew he couldn't think up a logical reason why it had taken him several hours to bring Sakura home. He was surprised to find himself content with doing this. They'd both lost track of how much time went by till there was the sound of a key rattling in the lock of the door. Before they could move the door pushed in and pushed them away from it. Both of them stumbled and Gaara feel with Sakura landing on him for the second time that day.

"Ah." Kankuro said as he stepped over them, acting as if they were not in a compromising position. "Welcome back. How was the competition, Sakura?"

"It was good." She stammered as she tried to detangle herself from Gaara.

"I'm happy you're back. Now Gaara can stop sulking all over the place." Kankuro set his bag and keys on the counter and went to the fridge to get something to drink.

"I was not sulking." Gaara retorted.

Kankuro peeked at him from around the fridge. "Fine. Now he can stop sighing all the time looking at the calendar."

Gaara was about to argue, but Sakura tugged his sleeve. "We should probably go downstairs now. I am sure mom will want to do a complete background check and ask you a ton of questions about what you like to do and what not."

"Sounds pleasant." Gaara said as he stood up. He waved at his brother before following Sakura down stairs.

True to what her father said, Mrs. Haruno could not cook. Well, she could. The issue was that she felt that only things that were organic and good for you were the only things that were good for you, and she would match up the strangest food together. Such as cheese with corn or strawberries with green beans. Not having developed a taste for the food like the other two members of the Haruno household, Gaara spend the better part of the evening drinking water. True to what Sakura said, Gaara was asked so many questions that it made his head swim after a while. He practically gave a very detailed description of his life, his siblings life, what his grandparents use to do, where his family came from and where he'd lived. It was only after Sakura's father demanded that Mrs. Haruno 'stop badgering the boy' that she huffed and the talk turned to Sakura's trip.

Gaara found himself enjoying the chatter. It was different then with his family, with their different schedules could only share breakfast together and none of them were morning people. Gaara helped Sakura wash the dishes and sat with her family a little longer before he went home. Sakura had walked him to the door and they exchanged a small kiss before leaving.

He could never remember feeling so content.

0o0o0o0o0

Summer was finally there, and Gaara welcomed the heat like a missed friend. The roles were reversed in the mornings. While Naruto and Sakura complained about the heat, he only hummed happily to himself.

"You should be complaining with us." Naruto whined while pointing an accusing finger at him after two weeks of summer weather. "You wear all that black and heavy pants. You're not even sweating."

"I like the heat. Besides, this" he waved his hand around to the air around them, "isn't really that hot."

"I'm sure it doesn't feel like it after being in the desert for so long." Sakura chimed in.

The discussion went on all the way to school and only stopped because Gaara had to stop by his locker to grab something. He saw that there was a note taped to his locked. Pulling it, he examined the neat handwriting.

"Please come to the principal's before the first bell."

He turned the page over, but didn't see a name. He thought about dismissing it, but it might be about Gaara's request for the finals. Grabbing his text book, he made his way to the principal's office. When he opened the door to the reception area he froze.

Sitting in chair facing him was… him.

Yashamaru.

His uncle.

Gaara felt very cold and his heart hammered like crazy in his ears. He was feeling the same as the time he father had come to the foster home and charged him, on this was somehow worse. What was he doing here? Why was he here? How did he know where Gaara went to school at? Maybe this was a mistake and he was here for some other reason. It had to be a mistake. There was no way he could be here other wise. Yashamaru was busy reading a magazine and hadn't noticed him standing in the door way.

'_Move your feet! Leave before he sees you. Run! Run away!' _His mind screamed at him, but his body refused to do anything. He was so stiff that if someone came over and lightly pushed him, he would have fallen over.

It was too late. Yashamaru looked up and spotted him.

"Gaara!" He said, while standing. He looked so happy to see him. He walked over to him and placed his hands on Gaara's shoulders. "It's been so long! Look at you. Pratactily a grown up."

He couldn't… move. He was trembling all over as he stared at Tashamaru. Why couldn't he move? He was doing such a fine job of it earlier…

"I missed you so much." One of Yashamaru's hands moved up to Gaara's forehead and lifted up some of the hair to reveal the tattoo there. "Ah… you kept this. I was worried you were going to remove it. I suppose it just shows how much you really do love me." Suddenly Gaara's head was whipped to the side as Yashamaru slapped him. "That's what you get for not staying with me." The man gripped his shoulders again, painfully. "I was so angry when you were taken from me, but we're together again..."

Yashamaru was suddenly cut off as a fist connected with his chin. The older man went flying backwards and thudded into the receptions desk. Gaara blinked and took a deep breath. He'd forgotten to breath. Looking dumbly to his side, he saw a very flushed and worried Naruto.

Nartuo had punched Yashmaru.

While that fact confused him then, he would think about how he must have looked to Naruto. Pale, shaking and wide-eyed as a man he didn't know was leering over him. Gaara's trembles were not full out shakes. Nartuo was shouting something to Yashmaru, who was picking himself up while a nasty glare on his face. A teacher from somewhere had come over and was trying to settle things down, but was not winning with the angry Nartuo.

Someone touched him.

Normally it wouldn't bother him, but it did. He jumped at the contact and saw that another teacher, Mr. Yuhi was there. Gaara slapped his hand away without a thought. He didn't want anyone to touch him. Now it seemed like everyone did want to though. People were gathering around, curious about what was going on. They were too close, making it hard for Gaara to breath. Someone tried to touch him again, and this time he screamed. Hurling his bag at the contact, he broke out into a run. Someone was calling for him, but he didn't care. The students quickly moved out of his way as he ran down the hallway, out the main doors and down the street.

0o0o0o0

Temari was about to go to bed when the door to the apartment burst open and slammed closed. Slightly alarms, she grabbed the baseball bat kept in the room and peeked her head down the hallway. What she saw made her gasp. Gaara was slacked against the wall, breathing heavily and sweating like crazy. He was white as a sheet of paper, making his flushed face seem more dramatic.

"Gaara? Gaara, what's wrong?" She said as she quickly walked to him. He didn't respond and when she tried to touch him, he almost bit her. She pulled back, wide eyed. He had done that since…

The phone in the apartment rang. Giving him a concerned look, she stood to answer it. It was the school.

"Have you gone mental!" She screamed into the phone once the women on the other end was done explaining the events that had happened that morning. "What in the world made you think it was ok to let that man within shouting distance of Gaara?"

"Ms. Sabaku, please understand. Only the Principle, Vice Principle and the councilor know about this. From what we found out one of the student aids that was filling in that morning had let him in, not knowing. He said that he had been asked to come to the school by Gaara."

"That's impossible. Gaara would never do that." She looked over to check on Gaara, but he wasn't there anymore, just his school things. Down the hall she could hear what sounded like heavy thudding. She saw some of his books fly out his door. Not giving the caller another thought, she hung up the phone and ran down the hall. Gaara was in the process of completely destroying his room. His book selves were all up turned and books made the room look completely chaotic while his desk was also upended and against the closet. He was in the process of trying to up turn his bed.

Oh, this was very bad…

Temari raced to him and tried to get him to stop, but she was violently shoved away. "Gaara! Stop it!"

He did stop, but only to crouch on the ground, wrap his arms around himself and start to rock back and forth. Temari wanted to cry. She hadn't seen him like this since he was 13 and the lab techs were trying to sedate him. Not knowing what to do, she went back to the phone to call Kankuro.

0o0o0o0

When he knocked on the door, it was already well into the afternoon. Kakashi waited as he heard footsteps inside the apartment come towards the door. He cursed his receptionist who had waited to give him the message that something had happened for so long. By the time he had called back, things had only gotten worse from the sounds of it.

"He just snapped. His uncle came and he completely snapped. It's as if the last three years didn't happen." Temari had said when he called. She almost sounded like she was about to burst into tears, and when she opened the door for him, he could see that she had.

"Where is he?"

"In his room."

Kakashi followed her as she lead the way. Kankuro stood outside the room, leaning on the way while watching inside. Worry made his face wrinkle. Looking at him, Kakashi could see the desperation in his eyes. Moving into the room, he saw the lone figure of Gaara, arms still wrapped around himself and still rocking back and forth.

He looked back to the siblings. "So his uncle just showed up to his school?"

Temari nodded. "They said that he insisted that Gaara had asked him to come, but we all know he wouldn't do that. We don't know the details too much. One of Gaara's friends hit him and then Gaara took off not too long after that." She paused to look at her little brother. "He ran all the way here. He didn't stop till he was home and the door was locked.

"Did his friend know about the situation with his uncle at all?"

"No. We don't know why he…" There was a knock at the door. Temari excused herself to answer it.

Kakashi knelt down by the boy. "Gaara."

The rocking stopped. That was a good sign.

"Gaara, I know what happened was very shocking and scary, but your ok now. You're safe and…" Kakashi's eyes narrowed and he moved around to take a better look at Gaara's face. His face was completely blanks and he eyes were staring off at some distant point.

Mentally cursing, he stood up and went to Kanuro. "He couldn't cope with the situation or the thoughts for feelings so he's done the only thing that he can do. Shut down."

Temari came back, with a pink haired girl behind her. He was able to recognized the right away.

Kakashi looked from one to other. "Listen to me. Right now what Gaara needs isn't time, medication or more therapy. What he needs is support. Especially from you." He pointed a finger at Sakura." You've been his anchor since he came here. You've helped him to understand that he can have a normal life and normal relations with others. Stay with him. Talk to him. He may not respond to you, but that doesn't mean he doesn't hear you. Hopefully this isn't a complete relapse." Turning to looked Temari and Kankuro he said. "I'll come back tomorrow. There isn't a lot I can do right now. Depending on he changes what we do next. You have my number, call me if something happens. Don't touch him unless he touches you first." Sighing, he picked up his things and left the apartment, closing the door softly in his wake.

Sakura looked at Gaara's siblings. "Can I stay for the night?"

Kankuro sighed, suddenly looking very old. "I don't have any objections. If the doctors wants you to stay close to him, then you can… just be careful."

Nodding, both the teenagers went down the hall. Gaara had moved and slumped up against a wall there. His face was completely devoid of any expression what so ever. For all appearance, he looked like a huge doll.

"I heard what happened from Naruto. He's so worried about you. He'd be here right now but the school wouldn't let him leave and his dad is there right now…"

He didn't say anything, just let out a long sigh. She looked around the room and then back at him. Sakura started to tidy up the room. She righted the desk back up and tried to put the bed together again. After she made the bed, she started to collect the books that were scattered across the floor.

"You really trashed it."

He didn't change. She sighed and bent down to pick up a number of books from the floor. She saw that one of them was the book that he'd lent her when they first met.

"This was a really good book." She said, waving it. "Do you remember when you lent it to me? I was helping you unpack. After we got… together." Sakura's vision suddenly became blurry. She quickly rubbed away the tears that were forming in her eyes. She looked back at him. More then anything she wanted to throw her arms around him and tell him that everything would be ok.

She slammed the books on the desk. "I hate this! I hate being so… useless. I can't really do anything but just ramble away." She closed her eyes against the wave of tears and felt something wrap around her middle. Startled, she looked down and saw Gaara had wrapped himself around her, his face buried into her belly. If it wasn't for the slight shake in his shoulders and growing wetness, she would have never known that he was crying.

* * *

AN:

Hmmm...

Reviews would be nice .

I am going to finish the story this week, cause I know I won't have the time or energy to do so afterwards since I am starting a new job.

* * *


	18. Chapter 4, Part 3

Disclaimer: Naruto, and its cast, does not belong to me

Disclaimer: Naruto, and its cast, does not belong to me. The story on the other hand, does. Should you chose to take it and claim it as your own work, I will find you and tickle you to death.

Chapter 4, Part 3: Realizations

Gaara did not go to school for the rest of week. It was the first time he had missed a day of school since he had started the year. Sakura stayed with him for three, but on the forth day she went to school with his approval. He remembered that Kakashi had said that she was an anchor for him, but right now she, and his brother and sister, felt more like lifelines. He'd cling to her for the rest of the night. A part of him felt that if she left. The real reason he wanted Sakura to leave was because he needed to think.

Naruto made daily visits for a few hours, bringing them both their homework and messages from friends hoping that he'd get well. This did cheer Gaara some. Hinata had accompanied Naruto on one of her visits, bringing with her some new lyrics that Kiba had written along with the message that they would really practice that weekend to get ready for the end of year festival. The festival was something that was held on the same day as prom. Many students called it "Ditch Day" because a lot of them left once the festivities began. Which was news to Gaara, but he was getting use to finding out these things at the last minute.

Kakashi also made house calls to check up on him. After the second day he wanted to have weekly appointments with Gaara for the next month. "You've overcome the worst of it, but we still need to dust out a few more places in your head." Was all that he said. Gaara did not argue.

On the forth day, Gaara watched Sakura leave and walk up the road that lead to the bus stop. was one thing that he did know though, and he didn't have to be a detective to figure it out. He'd already put together some of the details in his head. Along with Naruto had also shared with him, and his own deductive process, he had one fact down.

It was Sasuke had done it.

Gaara imagined that it would have been very easy as well. Yashamaru was a registered sex offender after all. His name, face, address and where he worked were posted on government websites. It would have been a snap for someone to write a letter to him saying that he wanted to see him again. Gaara was just grateful that he hadn't come to the house. The thought of would have happened made him grow cold.

Absently, he rubbed his forehead. It ached slightly. On the second day, Gaara had scratched it till it bleed. He only stopped because Sakura had gabbed his hand and made him stop. A memento that he couldn't get rid of. Yashamaru had taken him to a tattoo parlor and paid the man a lot of money to do it, regardless that it was a child. It had hurt too, but Yashamaru said that there were times love hurt.

_Every time you look at it, you can think of me and how much I love you._

Gaara shuddered. He'd been reliving a lot of memories the last few days. Things he had forgotten, or made himself forget, had come rushing back. The first night had been the worst. Waking nightmares had tormented him and Kankuro had to hold him down at one point as he thrashed around trying to ward off the invisible foe. Kakashi had come the next day, after a phone call with Kankuro, with a mild sedative he was to take to help keep him calm for the next few days. Gaara took the pills on the second and third day, but now they sat in the kitchen. He did not need them now.

Gaara paced back and forth in the apartment while he thought. He needed to find Sasuke. This was getting out of hand. Sasuke had already played dirty, but now this was a hit below the belt. Gaara didn't have anything to fight back with. Unless…

He stopped pacing as the idea hit him. Why didn't he think about it before? It wouldn't have mattered before, he realized. Sasuke had never actually gone this far. But if he could… if Sasuke… Gaara chewed on his thumb nail for a moment while he thought. It could work. It would work. Quickly Gaara went to his room to change, put his shoes on and then was out the door.

0o0o0o0o0

Sakura tapped her fingers on her desk as the teach droned on about the Cold War. She felt impatience and antsy. More then anything, she wanted to stay with Gaara, but he had been very insistent that she leave. Worse then that, she had to deal with the rude and frank questions about her boyfriend who had flipped out and ran out of the school. Naruto hand managed to chase the people at lunch time, demanded that they go and cluck somewhere else. If Sakura wasn't so worried, she would have found the whole thing funny. It was for the best that Gaara didn't come to school right now. Although he looked better this morning then he on Monday. Gaara had gone back to having no expression on his face, leaving his thoughts and feelings a mystery to her again. He had managed to smile for her as she left though. That was encouraging.

Sighing, she turned to the page that the teacher directed them too…

… and saw Karin. She was standing on the other side of the class door, peering in through the glass. She was grinning something wicked. She winked at Sakura before walking away.

'_That's not good.'_ Sakura thought. _'What is she up to?'_

The bell to end the day rang. She gathered up her things and made her way to the locker. No one bothered her this time, but Ino was waiting by her locker for her. She looked a little angry.

"I found out who the person that let that guy into the school was."

"Let me guess, Karin." Sakura grumbled, fiddling with the locker.

"How'd you know?"

"It seems like something she would be in on."

Ino shrugged. "You're right, I suppose. On the bright side, it's almost the end of the school year. This will all be over soon enough."

"I wish that it didn't have to start at all!" Sakura picked up a few books and placed them in her bag. She double check to make sure that she had Gaara's make up work before closing the locker. "I am gonna go. I'll see you tomorrow, ok?"

"Yeah." Ino waved at her. "Be safe."

Sakura smiled and made her way out of the school. She glared at the other end of the parking lot. Why did the buses have to be so far away and not at the back of the school like other schools? Sighing, she started to make her way. Somewhere she heard a cars starting and one in particular was very loud.

"Sakura!!"

Startled, she turned to see Nartuo at the stop of the starts, looking completely panic stricken and running for her. He said something else, but she couldn't hear it over the roar of an engine nearby.

Roar of an engine…

Sakura suddenly felt a burst of pain and then knew no more.

0o0o0o0o0

Naruto watched horrified as the next few things that happened were in slow motion. He could move there fast enough. He called out Sakura's name. She turned to look back at him, but by the time she saw the car, it was too late. Sakura slide over the hood of the car, slammed into the window hard enough to make the whole thing crack and nearly shatter. She went flying and hit the ground and did not get back up. Naruto and few others ran to her, but he got there first.

"Sakura! Sakura!" He screamed while taking her in his arms and rolling her over. Her face was slacked, and blood was coming out of wound on her head. Her leg was also twisted at an unnatural angel, clearly broken. Someone reached over to feel her pulse.

"She's still alive! Someone call for an ambulance!"

0o0o0o0o0

It was later in the evening then Gaara thought it would be when he got back. Public transportation turned out to not be as realiable as some clammed it was. The bag with his purches were tucked under one arm as he made his way up the stairs. He stopped on the last step leading to his apartment, surprised by the sight that was there.

"Naruto?"

Naruto was sitting in front of his door, head buried in his knees and arms warped around them. Lifting his head up, Gaara saw that he'd been crying. The sight of Naruto crying proved to be even more disturbing then he ever thought it could. His friend, always happy go lucky and rarely serious had been crying.

"She was hit by a car." Naruto said, a sob in his voice. "Sakura was hit by a car. In the school parking lot."

Gaara felt as if the ground under him had fallen away. His hand reached over to grab the railing, to steady himself. "Is she ok?"

"I don't know. They took her to the hospital and that was the last I saw. I tried to go there, but because I'm not family they wouldn't let me in." Naruto let out a wet sob. "I saw it happen. I was right there and I couldn't stop it…"

Gaara's grip tighten on the railing till his knuckles turned white, but you couldn't even tell if he was upset if you saw his face. When he spoke, his voice was normal. "What about the driver?"

"No one saw the car's plate. They got away."

'He really did plan this.' Gaara thought. An angry scowl crossed his face. 'And it's gone too far.'

"Naruto?"

The blonde looked up. "What?"

"Let's go to the hospital. If Sakura's parents are there, I am sure they will let us see her. But there's somewhere I want to stop by before hand."

0o0o0o0o0

"Are you sure about this?" Naruto asked as he put the car in park.

"Unless you have another way. One that doesn't evolves running in screaming and swinging your fist around."

"I'll have you know that that works just fine."

Gaara smiled at him. Naruto smiled back. "I shouldn't be long."

Gaara got out of the car and walked to the gate of the large house down the street. He pushed the buzzer on the intercom and waited.

"Yes?" Came a female voice.

"I'm a friend of Sasuke's from school. I wanted to come by and talk to him about something that happened to a friend of ours. Tell him it's Gaara."

Gaara waited, but there was no response. There was a loud click sound as the gates swung up. "The young master is in the back garden. Don't be long, there is a company meeting he needs to be in soon."

"I won't. Thank you." Gaara walked thought the gates and watched as they closed behind him. He easily found a path that lead behind the house. As he walked, she saw several people there, some working and others walking around.

'_We come from such completely different worlds.'_ Gaara thought as he quickened his stride. Sasuke was easy to find, standing at the edge of a pound. Karin sat in a small car near Sasuke. He turned to greet him, a cold polite smile on his face.

"What a surprise." Karin said in a sweet voice.

"Is it?"

"No. Not really." Sasuke chuckled. "What do you want?"

"I want you to stop."

"Stop what?"

Gaara's eyes narrowed. "I don't understand you. You have everything." Gaara waved his arms to their surroundings. "A home, a family, friends and stable future. What else do you want?"

"That's simple." Sasuke put his hands into the pockets of his pants. "I want to be number one. If I have to scrub people like you out of the way, then so be it. It doesn't matter to me."

"You're not really number one." Gaara retorted. "You're brother will always be better, and he did it without have to hurt others."

"Shut up." Sasuke hissed.

"No. I'm tired of this game. You hurt me and my girlfriend. What next? What else are you going to do?"

Sasuke regarded him silently for a moment. He pulled his hand out of his pocket to inspect his finger nails. "I won't do anything else if you just do one little favor for me."

"What's that?"

"Just don't show up for the finals. Take the make ups."

Gaara's eyes narrowed. If he did that, then he would be suffering a 10 penalty to whatever he got. 15 even, depending on the teacher. Sasuke would then become valedictorian. He would be the best academically, socially and physically. Number freaken one.

"If I do, you'll stop? You won't hurt anyone else?"

"Yes, I'll leave your stupid friends alone."

"They use to be your friends. Sakura and Naruto." Sasuke glared but Gaara went on. "How could you do that to them? They loved you."

"Naruto is an idiot." Sasuke barked. "A complete moron. Do you know how many times he's had to repeat classes because he didn't pass. Sakura was a good tool till she got too good."

"You mean too smart?"

Sasuke snorted. "She was easy to take care of. Little struck fool." He grinned something nasty at Gaara. "I heard she had quite the look on her face when the car hit her. Shame I couldn't be there to see it."

"I'm sure Karin gave you everything in detail, just like the files she got on me."

"I've wanted to hit her with a car since I first met her." Karin said, almost gleefully. Gaara glared at her, but she only kept smiling sweetly at him. "Your files were easy to get. Any low rate hacker could get to them, and most of them are public after all."

"We have a deal?" Sasuke asked.

Gaara stared at him for a moment before nodding. "We have a deal."

"Good. Now leave."

Sighing, Gaara turned to leave. It didn't take it anytime for him to get back to the front gate. They opened quickly and the shut just as fast behind him. He made his way down the street and got in the car.

"So?" Naruto asked. "Did you get it?"

Gaara grinned and lifted up his shirt, exposing a small tape recorder with the small little red light on. "I got it."

0o0o0o0o0

When she was aware again, the only thing that she knew was that she ached all over. Mostly in her leg and head. Opening her eyes, she found herself distorted. This wasn't her room…

"Oh, sweetie." A pair of hands suddenly grabbed hers. Turning, she saw the faces of her mother and father. Her father looked much older then she remembered. Her mother's face was streaked with tears.

"Hey mom…" She said weakly. "What happened?"

"You were hit by a car." Her father side. "Not an accident either. You missed Gaara and Naruto. They stopped by to see you."

Sakura felt a little hurt. "They didn't stay?"

Her mother shook her head. "They went to the police stations. They had a confession of the person that had hit you. I was so happy that I kissed them both."

"Neither of them cared for that." Mr.Haruno chuckled, taking off his glasses to clean them with his shirt.

"It wasn't that bad." Gaara's voice came from the door away, Naruto peeking over his shoulder.

"How'd it go?" Sakura's father asked as the two walked into the room. Naruto went to Sakura first to give her and awkward hug as Gaara grabbed a chair to bring it next to the bed and took Sakura's hand.

"They asked us a lot of questions. We also had to do written statements. Turns out that there was a special investigation on the Uchiha family. We didn't get to find out a lot, but what we brought them is enough to bring Sasuke and Karin in." Gaara said, gently squeezing her hand.

"Good…" Sakura said, sleepily. "I think I am going to take another nap."

Gaara squeezed her hand. "I'll be here when you wake up."

"Promise?"

"Promise."

AN:

Heh. This chapter is still a little short, but I think it's good.

Two more chapters and then that is it.


	19. Chapter 4, Part 4

Disclaimer: Naruto, and its cast, does not belong to me. The story on the other hand, does. Should you choose to take it and claim it as your own work; I will find you and tickle you to death.

* * *

Chapter 4, Part 4: Happy ending

"Hopefully you all will look back on the last four years with found memories and be proud of all the hard work and effort you put in…"

Gaara listened to the words of the principal of the with half an ear. Some rows behind him he could pick up the sounds of Naruto snoring away the better part of the ceremony. His last four years weren't something that he wanted to think of, just the last one. He sat back into his chair and looked around. He could pick out the back of a few heads of people he knew. Sakura stood out with her pink hair and the crunches next to her chair. He took some satisfaction in remembering the day when the police came and took her out of class. It was not his fondest moment, but his smuggest. He'd not been around for Sasuke, but what he heard was satisfying enough. He'd put up a struggle and demanded to know what was going on, only to be dragged out by his hair by one officer. He didn't care about what happened afterwards.

"…this is the stepping stone in your lives. Where you transform from adolescent to adult…"

He fiddled with his gown a little. A bright green color with gold trim. He'd wished that they were the standard black like other schools, but the senior vote was for school colors. He would just fold it and stuff it into a box never to be seen again. Just like most of the other students would do…

…most of the other students…

It had surprised him. The last week of school when they had been handed out their year books, he had so many people come and ask him to sign them. He wasn't sure what to write in their books excepts "It was a good year with you" and "Good luck in college."

"You didn't know you were popular, did you?" Sakura had teased him when he had brought it up to her. "A lot of people liked you. Your smart, cute and girls like the strong silent type."

It had surprised him. Did people really like him? People he didn't even talk to? Still, his year book was a testimony. There were a lot of messages from students saying that he was an inspiration and a few thanked him for Sasuke. Naruto hadn't able to keep silent about the matter for very long and pretty much the entire student body knew now. The fact that a lot of approved made him feel… not strange, but unsure. There were the occasional student that despised him, but they were few and far between.

The cap and gown he wouldn't keep. The year book he would.

"Now you've heard enough rambling from me. It's time for a speech from your valedictorian." The principal said, and stepped to side. Everyone clapped politely and Gaara stood up and made his way to the stage. This wasn't something he hadn't been looking foreword too. Public speaking was not his thing. Hell, he still didn't say much even with Sakura. The applause died down as he finally reached the podium. Adjusting the microphone to his height, he placed down his papers in front of him. He took a moment to look up, spotting his brother and sister, Temari with the camera. Sakura looked at him with happy eyes and Naruto had actually woken up to listen to him. Gaara took a deep breath.

"I'm not really good with speech, so I will try to keep it short. I know a lot of you have parties to go to anyway." There was laughter in the crowd. Gaara cleared his throat. "I came here a year ago to finish my schooling, as a lot of you know. And" he held up his diploma," I did that. While I was here I did a lot of other things. I made friends, memories, experiences and did things I really didn't think I would ever do. I owe it to my family, friends and the faculty here. Just as you, the students, owe it to your family and friends for being there and helping you this last four years of school. This last year wasn't just any year, it was a huge stepping stone. In the future, when someone asks me what the most amazing moment in my life was, I am going to say it was right here, right now. Standing here, in front of you, and thanking you. My fellow students, you are the most amazing thing the world has to offer. You may not know it, but you are. When you leave, celebrate not your freedom, but the accomplishments and the future you have. Congratulations." Gaara felt a huge grin slide over his face. "We did it."

0o0o0o0o0o0

"So did you figure out what school you'll be going to?" Sakura asked later that day in the park behind the apartment complex. Most of their friends had gathered there for their own small celebration. Gaara had happily been sitting on one of the tables watching the others dance, laugh and talk.

"I accepted a scholarship for a school that offers a good psychology program."

Sakrua's eyebrows went up. "Psychology? What made you want to pursue that?"

"I kind of like learning how people think. Besides," a small smile touched his lips, "I think I can understand what it's like to be under the microscope, so to speak."

"What will you major in?"

Gaara pursed his lips. "Counseling? I don't know to do for a minor yet, but I'll figure out along the way."

Sakura was silent for a little while. "Is your school… far?"

Gaara sighed. This was a topic he hadn't want to bring up. Not tonight anyway. "It is." He turned to look at her. "It's around where I use to live before I moved here. I know that it might be a bit of a strain, but… I would still like to see you. We could visit on winter and summer breaks. There's also phones… email…"

"That's not really a lot of time and really far apart…"

Gaara took her hands in his. "I know it will be hard… but it's only for a few years. Then you'll really be stuck with me afterwards. Please…" Gaara couldn't believe the pleading sound in his voice, but the thought of not having her shook him to the very core.

Sakura looked up at him, her eyes reflecting how she felt. They looked at each other for a while before she nodded. Smiling, Gaara carefully gathered her in his arms and hugged her tightly.

"You better write too." Sakura threatened.

"I plan on it." Gaara said before moving back a little to kiss her.

Five years later

Gaara stood in the airport terminal, tapping his foot impatiently. He thought that he would have been able to work this all out so he wouldn't miss the game, but with the plane delay he knew he was going to miss it. He counted his blessings that he had the DVD player at home set up to record it. Naruto wouldn't forgive him for missing one of his games. He wouldn't forgive himself.

Still, it wasn't the game that he was really impatient for. It was the waiting. His eyes scanned those who stepped were making their way down the terminal, hauling their luggage. He sighed as he spotted the bob of pink hair that he was looking for. He waited for her to get closer before waving. Spotting him, Sakura grinned at trotted toward him, easily weaving around people.

"Oh, I missed you." Sakura said as she dropped her bag and embraced him. Gaara murmured his reply and hugged her tightly.

"How was your trip?" Gaara asked once they pulled away.

"Long and boring. I sat next to this fat guy the fell asleep and drooled." Sakura picked up her duffle bag and they walked hand in hand out of the terminal. When they finally made it past the sliding doors, the heat hit them like a wall. Sakura was quick to take off her jacket.

"How do you live in this?" She asked.

"Run from one AC area to another and don't come out in the middle of the day. Come on. The car is this way." Gaara took her hand and lead her across the busy airport parking till they reached his car. He didn't waste any time, tossed her bag in the trunk and got in. Once Sakura was secure in the car, he pulled out and started to make the long journey home.

"I'm sorry I couldn't make it to your graduation." Sakura said after they reached the highway.

"It's alright. I didn't go. I just took my certificate from the office and left."

"Just like that?"

"Just like that." He looked over at her. "They wanted me to go the ceremony, but I was done."

"You just didn't want to have to make another speech." Sakura grinned at him.

"That too." He turned his attention back to the road. "I have some good news for you. I talked to my old doctor, _Dr. Tsunade, about you._ She said that it wouldn't be hard to offer you an apprenticeship where she works."

"Really?" Sakura tiredness from her flight disappeared entirely.

"She was already looking at your application before I asked." This only seemed to brighten her up even more. She tried to reach over and kiss him, but this resulted in him always running into another car. Sheepishly, she sat back in her seat.

"What about you? Where will you be working?"

"Where you'll be working."

Sakura blinked. "Really?"

"Yeah, the hospital has an opening for the resident shrink and they're taking my application. I interview with them the other day."

"Even without any experience?"

Gaara stared at her out of the corner of his eye. "I have enough. Enough to get me the job anyway. I talk to patients and staff. If you want medication though you'll have to talk to someone else. They want to wait before they give me that ability."

"How's Shukaku?" Sakura asked, changing topics. She was referring to the dog Gaara bought from Kiba's dog farm before he left for college. "Still threaten the landlord?"

"Yeah. I've tried to get him to stop, but he just doesn't like that guy. Can't blame him. Seedy looking guy."

Sakura chucked at the idea of Gaara calling anyone seedy looking. They talked for the rest of the ride about everything and nothing.

Sakura had finished her school, with Gaara only finishing a few months before her. It gave him time to find an apartment and work before she finished. Moving in with him had been something they planned since last year and was approved on by both their families. While Sakura hadn't yet step foot into the condo Gaara picked, she had seen pictures. Her friends from college had been surprised that that she didn't want to have a bigger hand in the selection of where she would live, but she trusted Gaara. Besides, trying to find somewhere that would allow a dog was hard enough as it was. She counted her blessings that it was nice looking and allowed pets.

They pulled up to the complex and grabbed her bag and made their way quickly inside. Once inside the elevator, she looked up at him.

"So what's the plan tonight?"

Gaara thought for a moment. "There's the game. Afterwards, if you up for it, we could go out and eat. Or eat in if you want."

"I don't mind either way." She smiled and followed him out the elevator. They walked down the hall and stopped at one of the doors. Gaara pulled his keys out and looked at her.

"Close your eyes."

She blinked at him. "Why?"

"Because I have a surprise for you, but you need to close your eyes."

"You know I hate surprises." She grumbled, but did as she was told. She listened as Gaara rattled the keys in the door and then opens. Right away something came out and sniffed both of them.

"Hey Shukaku." Sakura rubbed the dog behind the ears who licked her hand in return. He went back inside and Gaara took her hands and carefully lead her inside. He pulled her till she thought she was well into the place before letting for of her hands and going back to close the door. She stood for a while longer before she felt his arms wrap around her waist.

"You can open them now."

Opening them, Sakura was greeted by the site of trees. Large ones, like the ones the were in the park by their old apartment complex. It took her a moment to realize that the trees were actually painted onto the wall. Even the furniture inside went with walls, not blending, but complementing. She stepped foreword to look around.

"I didn't want you to get home sick, so I… decorated a little." Gaara said, watching her. "I hope you like it."

"It's… oh, it's lovely, Gaara." She walked back over to him and hugged him fiercely. "Thank you so much." She pulled back to give him a small peck. The small peck turned into another kiss, and then another and another till they were in a headed embrace with there hands trying to work around the clothes that were in the way. Still kissing her, Gaara lead her backwards though another door till she bumped into the bed.

"What about the game?" Sakura asked when he moved to kiss her neck.

"I think Naruto will forgive me this one time." Gaara said, pushing her backward.

0o0o0o0o0

Much later, Gaara and Sakura were making their way up the stairs to the roof, each of them carried a camping chair with them. The roof here wasn't like their old complex. This one was better kept, clearly expecting it's occupants to journey up on it. Sitting in their chairs, Gaara and Sakura looked up at the night sky in silence. Sakura missed the small side glances that Gaara gave her from time to time, but she did notice the loud sigh that emanated from him.

"Is something wrong?" She asked.

Gaara turned to look at her, his eyes thoughtful. After a moment, he stood from his chair and knelt between her legs. His hands slide up her sides to rest on her back. He studied her a bit longer.

"I was thinking." He said simply.

"About?" She prodded.

"About you. About how much I missed you."

"I missed you too." Sakura said, rubbing a hand on the side of his face. He leaned into her touch, eyes closed. He kissed her palm before looking back at her again.

"Do you remember the first time we held hands?"

Sakura blinked. She thought for a moment. "On the apartment roof."

"Our first kiss?"

"The school roof." She narrowed her eyes at him. "Why?"

"We seem to have made a habit of making memories on roofs."

She narrowed her eyes at him a little more. "I'm not going to do **that** on the roof."

Gaara chuckled and shook his head. "That's not what I am getting at." He looked at her a little longer seriously. "I want to make another memory with you, if you'll let me."

Sakura felt butterfly dance her stomach. "Okay…"

"Ever since you came into my life, you've always been… like the spring to me. It's been a blessing and I don't know what I would have done without you." His hands on her back rubbed affectionately. "I want… I want to be really selfish for the first time in my life. Sakura, I want you."

"You already have me." She said.

Gaara shook his head, once of his hand removed itself to pull something out of his back pocket. He pulled out a small box and placed it into her hands. All of Sakura's attention, no, her entire world suddenly focused on that small back.

"I want to have you for the rest of my life. If you would have me. I know I'm not perfect, but… Sakura, would you marry me?"

She opened the box and looked at the ring inside of it. She tired to focus on it, but her vision so blurry. She wiped away the tears from her face before nodding vigorously.

"I will." She said as she wiped more tears from her face. "I will, I will, I will." Gaara leaned up to kiss the tears on her cheek before kissing her eyes and then forehead and then back down to her mouth. After a long kiss, he took the box and put the ring on her finger.

"What would you have done if I said no?" She asked, after much of their hugging and kisses was done.

Gaara raised a non-existent eyebrow. "We are on the roof for more then one reason."

**The End**

* * *

Well. That's it. The end of a fic that took longer to finish then I thought it would. I know that I said that there would be another chapter after this, but thinking on it… I didn't really have anything to drag out. At the end of such things, I need to give thanks to some people.

First off, you. My wonderful readers who took the time to read this. It means a lot to me that people read this and enjoyed it. Especially those of you that came back after I reposted the story after my strange "I can't write" stage.

My reviewers. Your words of encouragement meant the world to me while I was writing this. You have no idea how motivating you really are and thank you for your kind words. I would like to take a moment to thank one person in particular: Bloodied Sand – Yes, your reviews were long, and I loved every letter of it. You took the time to do more then say "OMG, this is so good!" and provided actual feed back. You, above all my reviews, I love the most. I would kiss you if you were here right now.

The next few people I thank, I can't say their names, but they know who they are. I want to thank Friend 1 who provided me with his school assessment report that helped me write up the report on Gaara in the first part of the story. Next, I would like to thank Friend 2 who kind enough to open up and talk to me about what it was like for him to talk to a therapist and his thoughts and feelings at the time. Friend 3 I thank who explained what it was like to deal with insomnia and trying to overcome it. I know I dramatized what happened to Gaara to an extent, but your experiences gave me something solid to work with. Thank you.

With the thank-yous out of the way, I must proceed to answer some of the questions that I have been getting. Forgive me for not answering you at the time, I just figured I would do it all at the end.

First:

Why did you write a GaaraxSakura fic?

There I was, sitting there and minding my own business while reading . I find a story written by randomsoneone called "How & Why" and decided to look at it. I read it and fell in love with the idea of the two being together; even though I knew that there wasn't really anyway it could happen in the actual story. I felt that they would have gone together very nicely at any rate.

Second:

Why a HS fic?

There I was, sitting there and minding my own business while looking at pictures on photobucket. I came across a picture done by a Japanese house wife called "Fade to Black." I went through the effort to find her art site and while looking at it, there was one picture of Gaara looking at CDs. That was what got the gears rolling in my head and I couldn't stop writing the story at first till I was chapter 3 part 4. I know it's really cheesy to do a HS fic, but it was really the only thing I had on my mind and I wanted to write a HS fic worth reading.

Third:

Where did you learn to write like this?

I read a lot. I'd say anywhere from 50 to 70 books a year. It's a mix of actual books and audio books that I listen to in the car. All fiction.

Forth:

Why does your stories have so little reviews?

Err… the story use to have about 120 reviews when it started. I went though a phase where I felt like I was horrible writer and in a fit of… emotion(?) I took all my stories off . It was about three months later that decided to put it back up after getting a few emails from folks that said they loved my story and wanted to know what happened. Since I reposted it, the folks that had already reviewed didn't see the need to post another review again. Tis my guess.

Fifth:

Your story has a lot of spelling/grammar errors. Are you going to fix those?

I plan on it, yes. I am going to take a small break from the story (about three to six months) and then I am going to set to rewriting it. What I kind of need are a fresh pair of eyes to find things that I miss. This story is in its raw rough draft forms, so when I go back to fix the errors, I plan to add/take away some things in the story. Not too much though. You can check my profile or livejournal to see where I am at in the process of rewriting it.

Last:

Where did you get the idea for this story?

Lots of different places, different books, different people and different events. Gaara and Sakura's relationship is very (very, very, very, very, **very**) loosely based off a book called "The Only Alien on the Planet." Kakashi was based off the therapist that my friend went to, including the poster he had in his office and that is now with my friend. Sasuke is a mix of people I use to go to school with who were always competing to be the best at everything. Naruto himself is based off Naruto and Cat Street Manga. The band and singing I got from "The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya" where she sings at a concert. Actual school, teachers and environment where based off places where I had been at. The ending of the story was from "Karens first Love." I had a very, very different ending to the story that would have take two more "chapters" to do but decided to go with the KFL ending since it was more warm and fuzzy and had a better feel good factor to it. If I get enough requests, I'll post the alternate ending to the story sometimes down the road.

And that, is that. Thanks again for reading and I really hope that you enjoyed this story.

Read ya later

Poeros.


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